A Forgotten Life
by xKLGx
Summary: set in season 5. lucas has an accident. better summry inside. will be L/P
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so here is the basic summary: this is set in season 5. Everything that happened in the show is the same except that Lucas never dated Lindsey. That's all you need to know for now. This is the first chapter and I will continue the story if there is a good enough interest so leave a review and let me know what you thought!**

* * *

His fingers flew furiously across the keyboard as he finished up the latest chapter of his new novel. The dramatic tap of the full stop button signaled the finish. Lucas sighed happily and stretched back in his chair.

_Finally! _He thought. As his eyes travelled towards the clock, he was pulled back into reality, realizing with a start that he should have been at Nathan and Haley's over half an hour ago.

"Haley is so gonna kill me" he mumbled as he rushed around his room frantically getting ready. As he picked up his phone he realized that he had 5 missed calls, all from Haley, including an angry voicemail. He only heard the bellowed "LUCAS EUGENE SCOTT!" before quickly deleting the message. Snatching the car keys off the dresser, he scrambled out the house and into his Mustang, quickly bringing it to life.

* * *

Haley James-Scott rang her best friend for the 100th time, once again hearing it go to voicemail. She huffed angrily.

"Relax Hales. He probably got carried away with his writing" drifted her Husband's voice from the Barbeque.

"Yer don't worry Tutor-Mom he should be here soon."

"Yes but I told him a thousand time this week what time to get here Brooke and does he listen? No!"

Nathan and Brooke chuckled, as did the rest of the gang. As the summer had been so hot Haley had arranged a big barbeque to make the most of the good weather. Scattered around the garden were Nathan, Skills, Fergie and Junk, all gathered around the barbeque, Peyton and Brooke were seated near the pool with Mouth and Millicent, and Jamie was running around like a bat out of hell with Deb telling him to calm down. Everyone else had arrived on time, too scared of Haley's reaction to even be 30 seconds late.

Haley smiled softly as she looked around the garden; almost everyone she loved was here. She was glad to see that Peyton had come and was actually having a good time. It had been very tense between her and Lucas recently and Haley was at the point of locking them in a room together to get them to see sense. Or rather, get Lucas to see sense. Peyton had already told Lucas that she was still in love with him but Lucas was still hiding his heart, although it was clear to everyone that he was also still in love with the other brooding blonde.

As her thoughts once again drifted back to her absent best friend, she sighed in defeat. He would be here soon, and when he was, she would give him a piece of her mind. With that she went over to the table and seated herself next to Peyton.

* * *

Lucas drove steadily through the streets of Tree Hill. He knew he was late but wasn't about to get done for speeding. He pulled up at the stop light and waited, watching the families play in the nearby park. He grinned gently and turned his attention back to the road as the light turned green. He pulled away and started to gain speed when he saw a little girl run out into the road.

"Shit!" Lucas cried.

He swerved to miss her and was glad to see that he did. But in doing that, he lost control of the car and skidded to the other side of the road. Right into the path of an on-coming truck. The last thing he saw was the front of the truck before the world went dark.

* * *

Lucas was now an hour late. The food was ready and the beer was cold. The only thing missing was him.

"Broody sure has a death wish" giggled Brooke as she watched Haley leave another angry voicemail on his phone.

"I'm sure he just got carried away with his writing again, like Nathan said" Peyton suggested. Although she couldn't help the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Lucas was never this late.

"Oh well. More food for us then" laughed Junk as he and Fergie helped themselves to hotdogs.

Haley walked back and joined the group, just as the doorbell sounded.

"About time!" she cried as she moved toward the house.

"Don't worry Haley, I'll let him in. It will give him chance to prepare for your attack" laughed Deb.

The group laughed and began to tuck into their food. A few minutes later they could hear Deb returning and Haley turned around, ready to scold her friend. But the group became silent when they saw that instead of Lucas, Deb was with two police officers.

"Haley, they want to talk to you and Nathan" Deb whispered confused.

"Mr. and Mrs. Scott?" the taller of the two officers asked.

Nathan and Haley stood up.

"That's us" Nathan replied

"Are you the brother and sister-in-law of Lucas Scott?"

From behind, the group watched and Peyton felt dread seep into her stomach.

"Yes. What's happened? Is Lucas ok?" Haley stuttered quickly.

The officer paused and looked at Haley.

"I'm afraid there's been an accident."

Uh-oh! Is Lucas ok? Did he make it? Press the little purple button right here and review to find out!


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok. Thanks to all those who reviewed, I'm glad you like the story so far! I decided I couldn't leave you hanging so have decided to continue with the story! You reviews inspired me! Plus I know that nothing is more annoying than reading a story, wanting to know what happens, but nothing new gets added! Anyway, I shall stop babbling now and will let you see what happens next! You may want to re-read the end of the last chapter to refresh yourself with what's going on!**

**Enjoy! And don't forget to review to let me know how I'm doing!**

* * *

Haley paled as she heard the offer's muttered words. She clung onto Nathan's arm as her mind processed the words she was being told. She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her.

_Not Lucas. Please. _

She looked up at Nathan and saw the same emotions playing out on his face. She took a deep breath.

"What happened? Is he ok? Please say that he is alright!" she meant to say the words calmly but realized that she had screamed them at the two officers.

By now the rest of the group had gotten up and moved towards Nathan and Haley, all desperately waiting for the answer to Haley's question. The answer they all prayed would be positive. Brooke had wrapped her arms around Peyton, trying to give the extra strength she so obviously needed. There were tears running from her emerald eyes as she waited for the news of whether the man she loved was ok.

The second officer cleared his throat as he prepared his answer. There was no nice way of putting it, so he spoke the truth.

"Mr. and Mrs. Scott, your brother was in a car accident. It appears that as he was driving past the park, a child ran into the road. He swerved to miss her, but in doing so drove into the path of an oncoming truck. He had no time to respond and the truck hit his side of the vehicle, causing it to flip over." The offer paused, and allowed them to take in the news.

"Oh my god" cried Haley, as Nathan embraced her.

"Is he……..is he alive" whispered Peyton, dreading the answer.

The two officers looked at each other, then back at the group.

"He sustained many serious injuries, we don't know how bad, but yes, at the moment he is alive. He was being prepped for the ambulance as we were leaving."

There was a collective sigh of relief, but Peyton still had more questions.

"How long ago was this? When the accident happened?"

"About forty minutes ago Mam" came the response

"Then why did it take so long to get him in the ambulance and for you to get here?" she didn't mean to snap, but Peyton wanted answers.

"Because…." The officer paused. "Because they had to cut him out of the car first."

Peyton recoiled as though she had been slapped.

"What about the little girl?" asked Brooke

"Other than a little shaken up, she's fine"

Brooke nodded; glad that Lucas' driving heroics had not been in vain.

"I'm not going to lie to any of you, but when we left the scene he was in very bad shape. Mr. and Mrs. Scott would you like a ride to the Hospital?"

Haley nodded rapidly and turned towards her mother-in-law.

"Deb? Could you..."

"I will stay here and look after Jamie, and I will contact Karen. Give me a call and let me know how he is?" Deb replied before Haley could finish.

Haley gave her a watery smile "We will."

"Mama?" came Jamie's scared voice "is Uncle Lucas gonna be ok?" his deep eyes looked towards his Mother in hope. Haley didn't know how to answer so Brooke, seeing this, stepped in.

"He's going to be fine Jimmy-Jam. Your Uncle Luke is a tough guy." She smiled at him as he gripped his Grandmother's hand.

"Guys, we're going with the officers, but you guys take my car and we will see you all at the hospital ok?" Nathan said as he threw the keys at Skills. The group nodded mutely.

"Can I come with you two? Please?" The look in Peyton's eyes was so heart-breaking that Nathan and Haley agreed at once. As they all climbed into their designated vehicles, nine people said the same prayer:

_Please God, let him be ok._

* * *

The ride to the hospital was the longest car journey of Peyton's life. _Why Lucas? _She thought, _why does it always have to be him? _She thought back to the other times Lucas had been in Hospital. But this one seemed much worse. She had heard the officer's unspoken words. Knew that they thought that Lucas wasn't going to make it, that there rush to get them to the hospital was to hopefully get them there before he died.

_Don't think like that! _She scolded herself. Lucas was going to be fine. A little worse for wear, but he was going to make it through.

The car pulled to a stop outside the hospital and Peyton found that the previous desperation to get here had quickly faded and was replaced with dread, scared to enter the building in case her worst fears were confirmed.

"Peyton? We're here." Haley whispered.

Peyton looked across to Haley's tearstained face and remembered that she wasn't the only who feared going into the building.

Nathan stepped out of the car and held the door open for the two women.

"Come on, let's go find him."

Nathan strode toward the main desk and leaned over to the nurse.

"I'm here for Lucas Scott, he was brought in a while ago. He was in a car accident." Nathan struggled with the last sentence but composed himself. The nurse looked up at him sympathetically.

"Are you family? I'm afraid I can only release the information if you are."

"I'm his brother"

The nurse nodded and looked toward Haley and Peyton, who were standing right behind him.

"Oh, and this is my wife and his fiancée" he spoke without missing a beat. Peyton looked up at him.

"Ok," the nurse began "he was brought in about 20 minutes ago and is being treated by Doctor Morgan. He will be out soon to update you on your brother's condition. In the mean time, are you able to fill out these forms on your brother's behalf? They're just to let us know his medically history."

"He has HCM." Haley murmured. "Let the Doctor know that as soon as you can."

The nurse made a quick note.

"Has he been taking his medication?" she asked.

"Yes. I mean, I think so. I always ask him about it and he says he has. Unless he was lying again." Haley rambled.

"Ok. If you would take a seat over there, I will let the Doctor know."

"Thank you"

* * *

It had been 15 minutes since they arrived and had been joined by the others and Haley had lost all patience. 15 minutes in which she had been sitting in a crappy plastic chair. 15 minutes in which her best friend could have died. She jumped up from her seat.

"What the hell is taking so long!" she yelled in frustration.

"Haley.."

"No, Nathan. He could be dying in there. We don't even know how bad his injuries are!"

"I think we're about to" Peyton whispered.

They all looked down the hallway and saw a tired Doctor approaching them. His expression was grim.

He looked at them.

"Family of Lucas Scott?"

Things didn't look good.

**I know I didn't reveal how Lucas actually is! I'm sorry for being cruel but I didn't want to rush it in this chapter! In fairness, I have posted 2 chapters in one night! But I promise I will let you know in the next chapter!**

**Please review to let me know if you want to find out how Lucas is, or even to tell me if you didn't like it! Just let me know! Press the purple button!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, I just want to say thank again for all the great reviews, they're great! At the end of the last chapter I promised that I would let you know what's happened to Lucas, so without further ado, here it is!**

* * *

"Family of Lucas Scott?"

Upon hearing the Doctors question, everyone quickly stood up.

"You're all family?"

"Yes. How's Lucas? Is he ok?" demanded Haley.

The Doctor surveyed the group then focused his attention upon Haley.

"Lucas was in very bad shape when he arrived. He had severe internal bleeding, a shattered right leg, a major head wound, a couple of broken ribs and various cuts and bruises. Due to his heart condition, he suffered a major heart attack as his body couldn't cope with the strain of his injuries. We lost him….."

The group broke down as they all gasped in shock. Peyton felt her world crashing down around her. She felt like she could no longer breathe.

"We lost him," repeated the Doctor "but only for a few minutes. We were able to revive him."

Everyone looked up in hope.

"And how is he now?" questioned Haley as she held Nathan's arm in a vice-like grip. At some point everyone had clung onto one another in some sort of giant group hug.

The Doctor smiled softly. "He's a fighter. We are prepping him for emergency surgery right now to repair the internal damage he has suffered."

Haley nodded "And then?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. The injuries that Lucas sustained are severe, mix that with his HCM and we are looking at smaller chance." He saw the ashen looks on their faces and was reminded again why he hated this part of the job.

"Only a small chance?" Peyton muttered softly.

"Yes. Lucas is on a ventilator at the moment, but as I said, the guys a fighter" he smiled hopefully at the group, hoping to comfort them, if only a little.

"Doc, how long will the operation take?" asked Nathan

"That depends on the extent of his injuries. I will let you know as soon as the surgery is over." With that the Doctor hurried away.

Peyton felt her legs go weak and moved away from the rest of the group. She felt her back hit a wall and slowly slid down it. She felt the tears pouring down her cheeks as she began to sob.

Hearing this, Haley and Brooke knelt down next her and added their cries to hers.

"It's gonna be ok Peyton. Lucas is a survivor" said Brooke tearfully

"You don't know that Brooke. What if dies? I can't loose him." Peyton sobbed.

Brooke didn't know what else to say so she wrapped Peyton in her arms. "I know honey" she whispered, "I know."

* * *

The waiting room was deadly quite. Nathan mentally cursed at the use of his words. As his eyes drifted across the room he saw everyone trying to cope with the news. It had been over an hour since the Doctor left, and there was still no news about Lucas' condition.

_Damn hospitals._

He needed to get out of this room. He needed to be alone. Haley had gone to call Deb, so Nathan took the opportunity to slip out. He didn't know where he was going. His feet had a mind of there own. He looked around the corridors and saw many families wearing the same expression as him. He sighed deeply and looked up as he realised he had reached the hospital chapel. He took a shaky breath and pushed open the door. He made his way to the pew; the same one that he sat in four years ago when Haley was in the hospital after her accident. He looked up towards the altar and his eyes focused on the large cross.

"I know that I haven't actually talked to you for four years and it seems the only time I do is when I want something, but I really need your help."

He felt the tears finally spill from his eyes.

"Please save my brother. He doesn't deserve this. He deserves to live. He's the best guy I know, and the best brother a guy could ask for. I can't loose him." He was openly sobbing now.

"There is so much more he has left to do. I don't blame you for wanting him with you, but I need him more. His family needs him more. Haley needs her best friend, Jamie needs his Uncle, Peyton needs the man she loves, and Karen needs her son. I need my brother. He has so much more ahead of him. Like publishing his next novel, or leading the Ravens to another State Championship. He needs to tell Peyton that he still loves her and they need to get married and have lots of kids." He chuckled.

"If your wondering whether you need another angel up there just remember that he already is. On earth. He's always helping others so why can't you help him? Please, let him come back to us. Please." Nathan hung his head in his hands and cried.

"Help him Keith" he begged. "Help him like you helped me."

* * *

Haley made her way back to the waiting room, desperate for news. She had updated Deb on Lucas' condition and Deb had finally managed to get in touch with Karen. Lucas' mother had been distraught when she heard that her only son was in hospital, but was flying back to America immediately with Andy and Lily.

Before she entered the waiting room she took a minute to compose herself. She had to be strong. Lucas needed her to be. She tried to push down the guilt she felt as she remembered the angry messages she had left on Lucas' phone. She hoped that they weren't the last words she ever spoke to Lucas. She wanted to take them back.

_If I hadn't arranged that stupid barbeque Lucas would be fine. _She thought to herself.

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thoughts that plagued her mind. She needed to be strong. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. She was met with the sight of Peyton crying quietly into Brooke's shoulder. She noticed that Brooke too had tears running down her face. She looked to the other end of the room where Skills and the guys were sitting quietly, just staring at the floor. It was then she realised that Nathan wasn't there. She turned around to go find him, when she spotted her husband walking towards the room. From his red-rimmed eyes and depressed expression, she could tell that he had been crying.

She walked towards him and they embraced.

"It's going to be ok" she soothed as she rubbed his back. Nathan merely nodded.

* * *

Three hours had now passed and Peyton was sick of watching the clock. The hands seemed to mock her as they took forever to move. She felt like throwing it out the window.

_We should have heard something by now._

The group had all resigned themselves to the uncomfortable hospital chairs. Every magazine had been read, every poster on the wall had been surveyed. All they could do was wait, all lost in their own thoughts. Peyton wondered if they had retreated into their memories of Lucas. She had found herself doing the same thing. Remembering his smile, his deep laugh, the way he squinted as he read one of his favourite novels. Getting lost in her memories was much better than to face reality.

But it looked as though reality was creeping back in. She saw Haley move out of the corner of her eye and followed the direction she was staring in. It was Doctor Morgan.

As he entered the waiting room his heart went out to every occupant. Lucas sure was a well loved guy. They all stood up, awaiting his update.

"Sorry it took so long. I'm afraid there was an unexpected complication."

"What kind of complication?" asked Nathan.

"As we were repairing the internal damage that Lucas suffered, his appendix ruptured and we had to remove it. It seems that the impact of the accident had damaged it. We were able to repair the internal injuries without further complication. We have set his leg in a cast, but he will need another operation to repair the shattered bone. We cannot do that right now, as the strain will be too much for Lucas heart to handle." Doctor Morgan paused to allow the information to sink in.

When he saw them waiting for more information, he continued.

"We have stitched up the cut to his forehead and have treated all the others. We cannot do much to his broken ribs except leave them to heal. He has been moved from recovery into the ICU. We have had to put him on a respirator as he cannot breathe for himself. I know this is a lot to take in at the moment." He added softly.

"So, he's out of the woods then? He's going to be ok?" Nathan probed

Doctor Morgan looked hesitant. "Mr Scott, your brother has just had a major car accident. The worst one I have seen. It's a miracle that he made it through the operation. But as you said, he isn't out of the woods yet. I'm afraid the next 24 hours are going to be critical. The extent of Lucas' injuries are so severe, I don't know how he survived. The next 24 hours are going to be touch and go." He finished sadly.

"So there is still a chance that he won't make it?" Haley whispered

"Right now there is a 20 chance of survival. If he makes it through the next 24 hours it will increase his chances."

"Can we see him?" pleaded Peyton.

"Only immediate family at this time."

"She's his fiancée" came Nathan's repeated response.

Peyton looked at him gratefully.

"Ok then. You three may go in to see him" Doctor Morgan stated to Nathan, Haley and Peyton.

Haley turned to the others.

"You may as well go home and get some rest."

They nodded.

"Would you like me to call Deb?" Brooke asked her.

"That would be great thanks Brooke" smiled Haley gently.

The group traded hugs and left with the promise that they would return in the morning.

"Call us if anything happens" Brooke said as she hugged Peyton.

"We will" assured Peyton.

With that, the group left. Leaving Nathan, Haley and Peyton with Doctor Morgan.

"If you could follow me" he requested.

He led them down a long corridor and through the doors into the ICU. They followed him to a door with the number 322. Nathan smiled as he saw this. The Doctor pushed open the door and led them inside.

"Oh Lucas" Peyton cried as she saw him.

Lucas was surrounded by many tubes, all keeping him alive. He looked pale and cuts and bruises littered his face and arms. He looked so weak. That was what shocked Peyton the most. Lucas was always so strong and it was strange to see him so weak, fighting for his life.

The Doctor quietly left the room as the three moved towards Lucas. If it wasn't for the respirator that was forcing him to breathe, Haley wouldn't be able to tell that he was alive.

They settled down by his bedside, Peyton and Haley each taking one of his hands. Nathan just stood. It was going to be a long night. They just hoped that Lucas would make it.

**There it is! Liked it? Hated it? Let me know!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Your reviews are really inspiring me! Thanks guys! There's gonna be a little bit of flashback in this chapter.**

* * *

The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only noise to be heard in the room, giving the assurance that, for now at least, Lucas was alive. As the sun set outside the window, the room was bathed in an orange glow, illuminating the two figures in the room. While Nathan had stepped out to get some coffee, Haley had fallen asleep, leaving Peyton alone with her thoughts. She grasped Lucas' hand as though it were a life line as her mind drifted back to the last meeting she had with the broody blonde.

_FLASHBACK:_

_Sitting at her desk, Peyton sighed as she tried once again to finish the paperwork. Being the owner of a record label wasn't just all about making music and having fun. She groaned in defeat as she threw down her pen. Her mind just wasn't in it._

"_Rough day?" a soft voice echoed through the room._

"_Rough week" replied Peyton as her eyes locked with Lucas'._

"_Normal people would be home at this hour" he joked_

"_Look who's talking" she smiled. _

_Lucas gave her the trademark Scott smirk._

"_I was driving past and saw the light on and wanted to make sure that you were ok."_

"_Thanks for the concern but I'm fine."_

"_Well I just wanted to make sure" Lucas mumbled._

_Peyton huffed loudly. "Can we stop doing this?"_

"_Doing what?" Lucas asked, confused at her sudden change in demeanor._

"_This" she exclaimed as she motioned between them "dancing around each other with pointless small talk. Acting like the past four years didn't happen."_

_Lucas' expression turned into a frown. "I wasn't making pointless small talk" he argued._

"_Oh come on Luke! We either avoid each other like the plague, or talk crap!"_

"_Well what's left to say Peyton? What do you want me say: Hey haven't seen you since you rejected my proposal, wanna get some coffee?" _

_Peyton huffed in frustration. "How many times do I have to say it Luke? I said SOMEDAY! I didn't say no!"_

"_Well you didn't say yes either!" he snapped back._

"_Lucas…"_

"_No Peyton you wanted to talk about it so lets talk. It doesn't matter that you said no or someday, the fact is I asked you to marry me and you had to think about it! And it killed me Peyton! Killed me that you had to consider whether or not you wanted to be my wife!"_

"_Lucas, I only wanted time because we were so young, it was never because I didn't love you. Don't you dare say that. I loved you more than anything else in this life. I still do"_

_Lucas looked up at her, and she stepped closer to him._

"_All I've done the past four years Lucas is love and miss you."_

"_Peyton..." he raised his hand, as if to silence her._

"_No Luke. I regret what I did. Every minute of everyday. If I could go back and change it, I would. I love you so much Luke." She looked at him._

_Lucas stared at her and slowly started to back out the room._

"_I'm sorry Peyton; I can't do this right now." With one last look at her, he left._

_END FLASHBACK_

Peyton looked into Lucas' face, longing to see his piercing blue eyes.

"Please don't give up Luke. You have to keep fighting. I can't live without you, even if you're not with me, as long as you're ok then I'm happy." She wiped away the tears that were falling from her eyes. "Please wake up Luke. We are all here waiting for you."

The door opened and Peyton turned, feeling more tears start to fall as she looked into the devastated face of Karen Roe.

"Karen…" she began.

Karen moved forward and embraced her. "Hey Peyton."

They pulled apart and smiled at each other. Karen moved over to Lucas and brushed her hands through his hair, being carful of the cut that marked his forehead.

"Hey baby boy" she whispered as she planted a kiss in his hair. "When you leave this hospital I'm never letting you near a car again" she chuckled through her tears.

"Have you spoken to the Doctor?" Peyton asked her.

Karen looked over at Haley asleep in the chair, then up at Peyton. "Yes, I bumped into him just outside. He told me all we can do is wait."

Peyton nodded "where's Andy and Lily?"

"Back at the house. Lily was exhausted because of the race to get here so Andy is looking after her."

Karen sat in the chair and gazed at her son. "Why is it always him? When Deb called me I almost forgot to breathe. I was so desperate to get back that I was threatening people with bodily harm. Luckily Andy has his own plane otherwise it would have taken longer."

Haley suddenly shifted in her chair and moaned as she moved her stiff joints. Her gaze locked with Karen's and she immediately jumped up to hug her.

"Oh Karen, I'm so sorry." She sobbed

"Haley it's not your fault. Don't you dare blame yourself. It was an accident." Karen assured her. Haley was about to respond when the door opened again, showing Nathan holding 3 coffee cups.

"Now its hospital coffee, so don't expect it to be good, but at least its warm. The lady in the cafeteria wasn't impressed when I tried some and asked whether she was trying to admit more patients but………Oh hey Karen." Nathan's lighthearted rambling was cut short when he noticed she was in the room, but was glad to see that he had put a smile on their faces.

He looked down at the 3 cups he was holding "Erm, did you want one Karen? I can go get another if you'd like to melt your esophagus?"

Karen laughed. "I'm fine thank you Nathan."

"Oh good, cuz if that lady sees me there again she might just throw it in my face." His expression turned serious again. "Any change?"

"No, nothing" Peyton said.

He nodded and handed the coffee over to the girls. "Drink up; we can't waste quality you know"

He settled himself into a chair next to Haley and looked over at Lucas.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Come on big brother? Is that all you got?" Nathan joked as he slammed the ball into the net._

"_I'm letting you win" was Lucas' stubborn reply_

"_Sure you are" Nathan looked over at Lucas and saw him struggling to control his breatheing. "Time out Luke, I want a drink" he said walking over to the bench and grabbing his water bottle. Lucas quickly joined him._

_They drank in silence for a moment as they watched the river._

"_So how's the writing coming on?"_

"_Really good actually. Plus it gets Lindsey off my back when I can actually give proof that I've been writing"_

"_So you care to give me a little preview. Wait let me guess. You've written the book about the person you admire most, the best guy in the world right? I was in your last book so its no surprise I'm the main character in this one" Nathan joked cockily._

"_In your dreams little brother. And you will have to wait until it gets published."_

"_Oh Luke, that's harsh man. You would actually make me wait and force me, your only brother, to go out and BUY a copy? Dude you're so mean!"_

_Lucas shoved him as he laughed. "Quit being a baby! If you're lucky I may get you a free copy and even sign it for you if you're nice"_

"_Wow I'm really feeling the love Luke." Nathan grabbed the ball. "Ready to loose again, old man?"_

"_Oh it's so on" Lucas cried as he chased after his brother._

_END FLASHBACK_

Nathan smiled at the memory and fell into quite conversation with the girls, all the while willing Lucas to wake up.

* * *

Dawn was breaking over Tree Hill, signaling the start of another beautiful day. But not for the occupants of room 322 at Tree Hill Memorial Hospital. For them it had been the longest night of their lives and Lucas still hadn't woken up. But he had made it through the night.

Karen shifted in her seat and glanced around the room. As her eyes focused on her son, she sighed sadly. "Lucas, honey. Its time to open your eyes. Come on sweetie. Please."

Lucas remained still so Karen tried a different approach as she softly began to sing.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine……"

"You make me happy, when skies are grey" Haley joined in and sang along with her.

"You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

By now Nathan and Peyton has also woke up and were listening to the other two sing. Suddenly, Peyton felt Lucas' hand twitch. She gasped and the others turned to look at her.

"His hand moved" she yelled excitedly. The others quickly move to the bed and saw Lucas' head gently move.

"Lucas, honey, wake up" Karen said as she stroked his hair "that its Luke, come on"

Lucas moved his head and revealed his trademark blue eyes as he squinted at the group. His body felt like lead and he didn't understand what was going on. He squinted up at the happy faces above and realized that he couldn't breathe. Something was stuck down his throat and he began to panic.

Karen, seeing this, told Nathan to get the doctor, and he hurried out the room.

"It's ok Lucas the doctors coming" she soothed.

_Ok? _Thought Lucas _what the hell is going on? Why is something jammed down my throat?_

The door flew open and Nathan ran in with Doctor Morgan and a nurse. Doctor Morgan leaned into Lucas' face and spoke clearly.

"Ok Lucas, when I say go, I want you to blow out ok? Nod your head if you understand."

Lucas nodded.

"Ok" said the Doctor as he and the nurse began disconnecting the ventilator.

"Ready Lucas? Go"

Lucas blew out as the pipe was removed and he began to cough weakly. His mouth felt like sandpaper. He breathed out deeply and slowly looked at everyone.

As he peered into their faces he asked:

"Who are you all?"

**Dun Dun Dun! Uh-oh. This doesn't look good. Review and let me know how happy/angry you are with this turn of events!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Without further ado, I present to you, chapter 5!!**

* * *

"Who are you all?" the first words from Lucas' mouth had not been expected by anyone.

Seeing the disbelief on the family's faces, Doctor Morgan stepped in.

"Lucas, my name is Doctor Morgan. You were in a bad car accident son. Can you remember what happened?"

Lucas squinted, and then looked confused. "No" he whispered, his throat hoarse.

"What can you remember? Do you recognise anyone in this room?"

Lucas slowly studied the many faces , but none looked familiar to him. He began to get stressed. "No. Am I supposed to know who they are?" he asked frantically, missing the broken looks on Haley, Nathan, Peyton and Karen's faces.

Doctor Morgan looked worried and moved his gaze to Lucas' heart monitor, seeing it speed up. "Lucas, I want to you take a deep breath and relax, ok, your getting too stressed."

_Relax _Lucas thought _how the hell am I supposed to relax?!_

Doctor Morgan turned to the others, who still stood motionless with shock.

"What's happened to him? Why can't he remember?" asked Karen.

We will try and figure that out Miss Roe, but at the moment I think it would be best if you all left the room for a moment."

"Why?" questioned Peyton.

"Because Lucas is becoming very stressed with not being able to remember you all, and to him, he must feel like he's surrounded by strangers….."

"We're not strangers, we're his family!" interrupted Nathan.

"I know that Mr. Scott, but it appears that your brother doesn't. I'm worried that if he gets too stressed, it could bring on another heart attack. Lucas is far too weak to be able to cope with that right now." He looked across the room to Lucas, who appeared to be struggling to remember what was going on. "Give me a few minutes to run some quick tests and I will be out shortly to let you know what I have found out."

The group looked hesitant. "Do it for Lucas, he needs to clam down" Doctor Morgan implored.

They all looked over to Lucas and back at the Doctor.

"Alright" agreed Haley "but we will be right outside" she stated stubbornly.

Doctor Morgan smiled. "I figured as much."

With one last glance towards Lucas, they slowly headed out the door, closing it on their way out.

* * *

Doctor Morgan turned around to Lucas. "Well Lucas" he said in his friendliest voice " I am going to ask you a few questions ok and I want you to answer as best as you can. If you can't, don't worry too much about it ok?" Lucas nodded weakly from his reclined position on the bed.

"Very good, can you tell me your name?"

"Erm, Lucas?" he murmured uncertainly.

"Ok. Good. Do you know your full name?"

Lucas thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head

"Do you know when you were born?"

Again, Lucas gave the same response.

"Ok. Do you remember any family members?"

Lucas shook his head.

"Do you know who the president is?"

Lucas, once again, shook his head, becoming increasingly agitated.

Seeing this, Doctor Morgan tried a different approach.

"Lucas can you remember anything at all?"

Lucas searched through his mind but came up with nothing. "Everything's just blank" he spoke.

Docotor Morgan took out what looked like a pen with a torch in the end and shone it in Lucas' eyes. He did this for several seconds before pulling away.

"What happened to me?" Lucas asked.

"You were in a bad accident. As you can probably feel, you have many injuries, one of which was a nasty bump to the head."

Lucas took all this in. "Those people who were in here before, who were they?"

"They are your family Lucas. Did you want to speak to them? Let them introduce themselves to you?"

Lucas merely nodded.

"Ok. I will be right back"

Doctor Morgan turned to leave when he heard a soft question drift across the room. "Will I ever get my memory back?"

Doctor Morgan heard the desperation in Lucas' voice and turned to answer.

"I'm afraid I don't know Lucas. I can't even imagine what you must be feeling, but these people care so much about you, so let them help you. I know it may seem a lot to ask, but you have to trust what they say, ok? Hopefully they may help you to remember."

Lucas nodded and was left alone with his thoughts. He felt so lost and alone. Those people who were supposedly his family seemed genuinely upset and he hated that he was the cause of it.

_Not like I can really do anything but trust them _thought Lucas. He shifted slightly in the bed and instantly regretted it. His whole body felt like it was made of lead, and there was pain everywhere. _Must have been some accident _he thought as he settled back down and waited to meet his family.

* * *

The minute Doctor Morgan opened the door, he was ambushed.

"How is he?"

"Do you know what's wrong?"

"Has he remembered anything?"

He held up his hand to silence them and cleared his throat. "From what I can determine, Lucas appears to have a severe form of amnesia."

There was a collective gasp from the group.

"so he doesn't remember _anything_?" asked Haley

"No. I asked him a series of questions, mainly about him, and he couldn't give me an answer. He doesn't even know his own name."

The group looked downcast.

"I've spoken to him and he asked that you all go in, so that he can talk to you. Try to be as normal as possible around him and answer any questions he has, as any action or information may trigger his memory."

"So when will he get his memory back?" asked Peyton

"As I told Lucas, I don't know. it may never come back, but being around his family may help."

"Thank you Doctor Morgan" said Karen

He nodded; "I will be back later when I have finished my rounds. Remember, act as normal as possible and answer his questions. Don't crowd him too much and be patient with him. I understand this is hard but try to imagine what he is going through."

The group nodded and made their way into the room, slowly.

* * *

Lucas turned towards the door as the four strangers, _no family _Lucas mentally corrected, entered. They looked at him sheepishly.

"Hey" Lucas rasped.

"Hey Luke" Nathan began "so I guess we better introduced ourselves. I'm Nathan, your brother." He clarified.

"Nathan. Brother. Got it." Lucas stated. He looked towards Haley.

She smiled at him. "I'm Haley. We've been best friends since we were 4, and I'm also your sister-in-law. I'm married to Nathan."

Karen stepped forward, willing herself not to cry. She hated seeing her son like this.

"Im Karen, but you usually call me mom" she smiled.

Lucas gave her a faint smile back.

He then spotted another person in the corner. He was taken aback by her outstanding beauty and the only word to enter his mind was _wow!. _He willed himself to remember who she was, but his mind came up with nothing. Although he couldn't remember who she was, she felt familiar to him.

Peyton looked at Lucas and decided how best to introduce herself. After fighting an inner battle she settled on "I'm Peyton, and I'm a close friend." It killed her to say those words to him, but she didn't want to confuse him further by explaining their complicated relationship.

Haley glanced at her and gave her a sad smile as the others seated themselves round the bed.

Lucas turned towards Karen. _My Mother,_ and asked "So, when was I born?"

Karen smiled softly at the memory "You were Born September 8th 1986 after a long, painful labor" she laughed (A/N I don't actually know Lucas' real birth date, but let me know if you do!)

Lucas immediately felt safe and at ease in this woman's presence, so it was easy for him to relax and trust her. "What's my full name?"

"Lucas Eugene Scott"

"Oh my god. Eugene? What possessed you to call me that?" he asked weakly as he made a disgusted face. The others laughed.

Karen tried to defend herself "It was your grandfathers' name and I like it."

"Why couldn't you have given the name to Nathan then?"

At this question, the group was silenced. The happy atmosphere that was there only seconds before, dissapeared. Lucas gently looked at them all.

"What" he asked.

Nathan decided to answer. "Lucas, erm. Karen is your mom, but not mine."

At this Lucas looked confused so Nathan continued. "We have different Moms, but have the same Father." He clarified.

Lucas looked taken aback at first but finally accepted this information, filing it away in his mind and then asked "So where is our dad then?"

The group looked at each other uncertainly. This wasn't going to be as easy as they first thought.

**There you have it! Chapter five. It was about time I gave you some proper Lucas interaction! So let me know what you think! Press the little purple button!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone for all the great reviews! I'm glad that you are all liking the story so far. I wasn't to sure about the last chapter but you guys didn't seem to think it was too bad. This chapter has been a little tricky to write what with the whole Dan thing. I hope you like it! Enjoy!**

* * *

"So where's our dad then?"

What a loaded question that was. _How the hell are we supposed to answer that? _thought Nathan. He looked to the others for support but judging by the expressions on their faces, they were thinking the same thing. Lucas was looking at Nathan, awaiting his answer. _Do I tell him the truth?_

"Erm, Lucas. The situation with Dan, our father, is really…………..complicated" Nathan finished lamely.

"Why?" murmured Lucas.

Nathan glanced at the others, who seemed perfectly happy to let Nathan answer all by himself. How the hell do you tell your brother that your father, the man who's supposed to love you unconditionally, to always be there for you and to support you, is actually an abandoning, lying, murderous bastard who killed the only father figure you had? _Wow just thinking aboutthat sounds complicated_, pondered Nathan. Realizing that Lucas was still waiting for an answer, he decided to keep it simple.

"Lucas, all you need to know right now is that Dan isn't a nice person. He's never been a good father and has done a lot of bad things. Me and you don't really get along with him. I know that you want details and I will give them to you, but I think it's just a little too much for you to deal with at the moment. I promise I will tell you soon, just not right now, ok?"

Lucas looked at Nathan skeptically for a moment as Doctor Morgan's words floated through his head _You have to trust what they say. _Lucas still wanted answers but decided to follow the Doctors advice.

"Ok."

Nathan and the others looked relieved.

"Thanks Lucas" stated Nathan.

Lucas smiled unsteadily. He hated not knowing anything. Even his own name sounded foreign to him and willed himself not to get too frustrated. _Think how hard it must be for them _he thought to himself. Seeing the struggle that Nathan was having about his previous question, Lucas moved away from the topic. Even though he wanted to sleep, his desire to know more overruled his body's protest.

His gaze drifted across the room to Peyton and, realizing that she hadn't spoken for a while, he decided to aim the next question at her.

"So, Peyton" she looked up at him suddenly. "How long have we known each other for?"

Peyton smiled at the memories. "We have been friends since we were 16, but it seems like much longer than that."

Lucas nodded. "How did we meet?"

"I erm, nearly ran you over" Peyton laughed and Lucas couldn't help joining in.

"So I befriended the woman who tried to kill me?"

"Yeah pretty much" she, like Nathan, had decided to keep things simple.

As the laughter died down, Lucas felt a stab of pain in his abdomen and was too slow to hide his grimace. Karen and the others noticed immediately.

"Lucas, honey, are you ok?" asked Karen worriedly

Lucas nodded, "I'm fine, don't worry about it"

"Lucas, if you're in pain its ok to tell us" Haley soothed. "I'll go get the nurse" she said as she marched out the room.

Lucas looked back at the others. "So Nathan, do we have any other siblings?"

Nathan glanced at Karen, who nodded. "I don't but you do."

At Lucas' questioning expression Karen decided to step in.

"You have a four year old sister named Lily; she has a different father to you so she is not Nathan's sister."

Lucas, once again tired to absorb this information, "Boy, this family sure is complicated" he muttered.

'You have no idea how true that statement is" Nathan chuckled.

"So, erm….Mom" at this Karen's head snapped up, but she quickly reminded herself that Lucas hadn't remembered, he was merely calling her what she was.

"Yes?" she questioned

"Is Lily's Dad, like, my stepdad?"

Lucas sure asked the most difficult questions. Karen decided to take the honest approach.

"He was going to adopt you Lucas, and me and him were engaged, but before all that happened, he…….he died. He didn't even know about Lily." Karen stated bravely. Peyton reached over to grasp her hand.

Lucas wished he had kept his mouth shut and looked away.

"I'm sorry" he muttered.

"There's no need to be Lucas"

He turned back to her "Can you tell me about him? If not then that's ok."

"Of course honey. His name was Keith and he worked as a mechanic. You and him got along great. You loved each other very much." She approached the next bit carefully. "He was there when you were growing up because Dan wasn't around much"

"Why?" he asked

"That's a question for another day" she stated "but you thought of Keith as though he was your Dad." She finished.

"I wish I could remember him. I wish I could remember all of it" he stated sadly. Seeing his distress, Peyton carefully let go of Karen's hand, and grasped Lucas'. She smiled when he gently squeezed back.

"It's ok Lucas, just give it time" Peyton assured.

Just then, the door flew open, announcing Haley's return and a Nurses arrival. The Nurse had a caring face and appeared to be in her late forties and looked of African decent. She was dressed in the traditional hospital scrubs and grinned at the room at large.

"Well, Mr. Scott," the nurse smiled at him "Your best friend here told me you were in some pain and demanded that I give you something for it"

Everyone turned to Haley, grinning. She glared back "What was I supposed to do? Let him suffer?" she huffed.

Nathan chuckled and Lucas thanked her. Her glare quickly turned into a smile at Lucas' words.

"Right then" began the nurse "it seems your painkillers have worn off so I am going to give you some more and I will also check your vitals while I am here" she winked at him.

She turned to the others "I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room for about five minutes, but don't worry, you can come back in when I'm done."

The others agreed and left the room.

She turned back to Lucas "Well Lucas, my name is Vivian, but you can call me Vi" she winked at him again. "Now these may make you feel drowsy, but will help with the pain."

Lucas nodded at she injected the drugs into his IV and began to check his vitals.

* * *

Outside, the group started to discuss the conversation they had with Lucas.

"I feel bad not telling him, but I don't want to freak him out" sighed Nathan.

"We know Nathan, but for the moment, lets leave the confusing stuff outuntil he gets a little better ok?" said Karen "the last thing he needs is to be stressed out and have another heart attack."

Haley agreed, though Peyton and Nathan were still unsure. "It just feels like I'm lying to him" he muttered frustrated.

"We aren't lying to him and we will tell him soon" responded Haley. "We need to do what's best for Lucas ok?"

The others all agreed, somewhat hesitantly.

* * *

Back in his room, Lucas was reflecting on his meeting with his family while Vi pottered around him, assessing his vitals whilst humming a catchy tune. They seemed like great people and Lucas already felt at ease with them all, but was a little frustrated at there avoidance with telling him about his father, he knew it was a sore topic just from everyone's reactions but that didn't stop him from wanting to know.

"You have a pretty great family you know" Vi stated.

"I know"

"Lucas, you have suffered a terrible accident and have shown your strength, at least physically, by coming out alive. How about showing your mental strength by trusting your family? They love you so much. Plus I have never been threatened with bodily harm by a patients family member until today" she chuckled

Lucas laughed weakly and then coughed.

"Ok tough guy, I think its time for you to get some rest. Did you want to say goodbye to your family first?"

He nodded weakly.

"Ok, I will back in a minute" she stated giving him, what Lucas had dubbed her trademark wink.

As she left, Lucas began to hum the same tune she had only moments before _Damn _he thought as he realized what he was doing _that tune is far too catchy!_

* * *

As the door to Lucas' room opened, the four occupants of the corridor turned to look at the nurse, who addressed them kindly.

"I'm afraid Lucas needs some rest and by the looks of it you do too. He wants you to go in and say goodbye though. Then I suggest you all go home and get some sleep. You can come back later this afternoon to see him."

Knowing that the nurse was right, they all agreed even though they wanted to stay. One by one they made their way back into the room.

Lucas turned to greet them all, looking much more tired than when they last saw him.

"Hey Luke, we have been given our marching orders by the nurse, but we will come back and visit later ok?" said Haley.

Lucas smiled tiredly and gave a muttered "Sure"

Haley walked over and gave him a gentle hug, which surprised him. "see you later" she whispered. Haley's hug was replaced by Karen's, who added a soft kiss to Lucas' head.

"Bye honey"

"Bye…….Mom" he responded, as Nathan walked over.

"I know it's not cool for guys to trade hugs, but you're my brother" he joked making Lucas smile and the girls laugh.

Nathan gently leaned down and gave his brother a quick embrace, glad that he was ok.

"Don't get used to it" Nathan muttered as he moved away. That just left Peyton, who moved uncertainly towards Lucas. She was desperate to hug him, to wrap him in her arms, but was afraid of crossing the line. Realizing that Lucas couldn't remember their weird past and that it would look worse if she was the only one who didn't hug him, she leaned over and gave in. She was mildly surprised when she felt him weakly hug her back.

"Bye Lucas" she said.

"Bye Peyton"

With small waves and many assurances that they would be back later, the group left Lucas, who now, was almost fast asleep.

* * *

The group walked to the exit in silence until Peyton spoke up.

"He seems to be dealing ok"

Karen nodded in agreement. "I think at the moment he is still not really with it, so is accepting everything easily" she assessed.

"Did you guys want to crash at ours?" Haley asked.

"Thank you for the offer Haley, but I need to get back to Andy and Lily and tell them how Lucas is. How about I come over to yours in a while and we can all go to the hospital together?"

"Sounds like a plan" said Nathan as he turned to Peyton "You coming?"

"Yes, if that's ok. Plus everyone will be at yours already and will want to know how Lucas is."

Withthat decided, the group hopped into the Naley car, which had been left by Skills, and dropped Karen off before heading home.

* * *

Lucas embraced the quite. He didn't dislike being around his family, but he really wanted some sleep but hearing the door open, he mentally groaned. Thinking that Nurse Vi was back, he cracked open his eyes. Only Vi wasn't there. Instead there was a tall man with dark hair, wearing a worried expression.

"Hello Son" the man stated.

**Poor Lucas! All he wants is some sleep! **

**In the next chapter I will show some interaction between the gang at home and of course, what happens between Lucas and the mystery man (although it is pretty obvious who that is! Ha!) **

**Keep Reviewing! It inspires me to update quickly!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! I want to start with the most important thing first, and that is to thank everyone for their fantastic reviews. I didn't think that the story would be this popular! Its great to know that you are all enjoying the story, so as a reward I have treated you to the next chapter earlier than I had planned! so all I have left to say to you wonderful people is-Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hello Son"

Lucas surveyed the stranger for a moment before speaking softly "Are you Dan?" he queried.

"Yes" the man replied simply.

"So, you're my father then?" he asked.

Dan smiled at Lucas "yes son, I am."

Lucas nodded. Maybe he could finally get some answers.

"Listen, I don't know how to put this but, erm..."

"It's ok Lucas; I already talked to the nurse. She told me what has happened."

Dan had seen the news report of an accident and nearly had a heart attack himself when he heard his sons name read out as the victim. He had wanted to rush straight to the hospital when he found out, but knew he couldn't with the others there. He had been angered that no one had thought to tell him. When the nurse told him about Lucas' memory, he felt bad, but knew that this would enable him to have a proper conversation with his son, without all the history affecting it. He also knew that Lucas most likely wanted answers, and therefore would be unlikely to turn him away.

He noticed Lucas looking at him and made his way to the chair at his bedside. He noticed the wary look in his son's eye and realized that the others had probably said some things about him already.

"So, how are you feeling?"

Lucas shifted a little in the bed and looked at his father. "Like a got hit by a truck" he responded.

Dan chuckled "Well we Scott men are tough, you will be up and about in no time."

Lucas was still observing Dan with a cautious expression, which Dan noticed and decided to address the situation.

"Lucas, I'm sure by now that your mother and brother have told you some things about me." He looked over to his son

Lucas looked back at him and nodded slowly.

"Son, what did they tell you about me?"

Lucas looked hesitant for a moment but his need for answers was overwhelming "They just told me that you aren't a nice guy and have done a lot of bad things."

Dan nodded and inside was happy that the others hadn't gone in to detail. That would make connecting with Lucas much easier.

"I thought they would say that."

Lucas looked over to him questioningly.

"Lucas, your family and friends really don't like me so I'm not surprised that they tried to turn you against me." Dan looked downcast.

By now Lucas was beginning to get confused. _Did the others lie to me? Why would they do that?_

"Why would they lie to me? They have no reason to." Lucas asked

"Because they want to turn you against me Lucas, they are doing it out of spite toward me." Dan responded.

"How do I know you're not the one that's lying to me?"

Dan looked over at his son. "I understand your hesitance toward me; after all, right now I'm a total stranger to you." He said sadly.

"Yeah" Lucas agreed.

"Why don't we have a little question and answer session? Ask me anything you like and I will answer it for you." Stated Dan.

"Anything?" Lucas asked hopefully.

Dan smiled in response. "Anything at all. I understand how desperate for answers you must be"

Dan didn't want to play with his son's emotions but if this was the only way to spend time with Lucas, then he was prepared to do it, even if Lucas couldn't remember who he was.

_Finally I can get some answers _thought Lucas.

"Ok" decided Lucas. He paused and thought for a moment. "Where were you when I was growing up? Karen, I mean mom, and Nathan said you weren't there."

This question would have taken most people off guard, but not Dan Scott. He looked away from Lucas and out of the window.

"I was just a kid when your mom told me she was pregnant. We were both still in high school and I panicked…"

"Wait, mom got pregnant in high school?" Lucas interrupted.

"Yes. At the end of senior year." Dan reflected. "She told me about it and I freaked out. I was only 17 and had planned for college and to play basketball"

"So you just abandoned us" Lucas asked incredulously.

"I'm not proud of what I did son, and after you were born I tried to see you, but your mother wouldn't let me anywhere near you. I wanted to see you so bad, but I couldn't. I've regretted what I did everyday since then."

Lucas absorbed this information.

"She stopped you from seeing me? Why?"

"As I said before Lucas, she did it out of spite. It was my fault I made her angry but she had no right to take that out on you, by stopping you from seeing your father." Dan was really laying it on thick now, but he needed to convince Lucas.

Lucas merely stared at him for a moment. "So what did you do?"

"The only thing I could. I watched you grow up from the sidelines. I hired a lawyer and tried to fight for you, but he told me that the chances of winning were slim." Most of what Dan was saying was actually the truth, but was twisting it to make him look like the victim.

"And then you had Nathan?"

"Yes, I married Nathan's mother shortly before he was born, but believe me, I never forgot about you." He said sincerely.

"So me and Nathan didn't grow up together?" Lucas wondered

"Im afraid not. I desperately wanted you too, but there was no persuading your mother."

"When did I finally meet you?"

"Not until you were in High School and started playing for the basketball team"

"Wait, I played basketball?" Lucas asked

Dan smiled again "Yep, you got your talent from your old man. You love it. Hell, you love it so much; you're now the coach for them, the Tree Hill Ravens." Dan stated proudly.

"I'm a basketball coach?" Lucas smiled.

Again Dan nodded.

"That's pretty cool" Lucas admitted.

"It is" agreed Dan. Lucas realized that they had gone a little off topic and brought them back to the previous conversation.

"So, I met you in High school then?"

"Yes, and once you got to know me you moved in for a while"

"I did?"

"Yep. Right after Nathan and Haley moved in together. We had a great time."

"What did mom say to that?"

"She wasn't happy, she even called a lawyer, but you were adamant that you wanted to stay with me."

Lucas nodded. What Dan said made sense and he was finally getting the answers that he desperately craved so he pushed on.

"And we had fun?"

"It was great; I was finally able to spend time with you. There was this one time that me and you were testing a new car, I owned a car dealership" Dan said at Lucas' quizzical glance. "It was a great car, and there was this little snot of a kid that dared us to race him, so you took the challenge. It was such a laugh." said Dan, getting lost in the memories.

Lucas smiled. He wished he could remember getting to know his father.

"Thank you for telling me all this" he said gratefully.

From what he could tell, his father didn't seem that bad and he was answering all the questions Lucas asked. But he was still confused as to why the others would lie to him. its not like they had told him much, just avoided answering him.

Dan looked across at his son and smiled happily, glad that Lucas seemed pleased to have him there.

"You're welcome son."

* * *

Nathan sat in the kitchen drinking his fourth cup of coffee. After telling everyone about Lucas' condition, he had gone to take a shower whilst Haley and Peyton had a quick nap. Nathan knew he should too but found that couldn't sleep. He sighed into his mug as he though about his brother. He wished that there was something more he could do for Lucas but before he could ponder too much about it, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"And here I thought that Lucas was the broody Scott brother" the brunette rasped jokingly.

Nathan smiled. "Hey Brooke."

"Shouldn't you be sleeping hotshot?"

"Can't" he answered simply.

Brooke nodded her head, "don't worry Nate, as soon as Karen gets here you can go back and see him."

Nathan noticed the way she spat the word 'you' and couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. Brooke and the others had been less than happy that they weren't allowed to see Lucas in the ICU as they weren't his family. Brooke in particular had let her opinion be known.

"You will be able to see him soon Brooke."

"I don't want to see him soon, I want to see him now." She protested, much the way Jamie would.

At that moment the little boy himself waltzed into the room holding a huge piece of paper that was at least twice the size of him.

"What you got there Jimmy-Jam?" Nathan asked his son.

"Its something for Uncle Lucas, to help him remember" the four year old stated proudly.

Nathan and Haley didn't want to lie to Jamie, so they had simply told him that the accident had caused Lucas to forget. Jamie, being who he was, decided to help his Uncle anyway that he could.

"What is it?" wondered Brooke.

"It's a picture poster, see?" the little boy stated

"Here's Uncle Lucas, daddy and me at a basketball game, and us at my birthday party. And here," he said pointing to each picture "Is when I was a baby and went on holiday with mamma, daddy and Uncle Lucas."

There were many other pictures stuck across the page, all of which included Lucas with all the members of the gang and some with Karen and Lily and one of Lucas and Keith. There were even a few ones from high school that Jamie had found. Around the paper Jamie had written little descriptions of what was happening in each picture in his messy scrawl.

"This is beautiful Jamie" Nathan whispered in awe. He looked over to Brooke, who appeared to have tears in her eyes.

Jamie smiled shyly "I thought it would be nice for Uncle Lucas to have and to help him remember."

"Its great buddy" Nathan praised. "Uncle Lucas will love it."

At that moment, the rest of the houses occupants trooped into the kitchen.

"What's all this?" Haley asked through a yawn.

"Jamie made something for his Uncle Lucas" answered Brooke.

The group gathered around Jamie's poster and all smiled at the pictures.

"Do you think he will like it Mamma?"

Haley smiled tearfully at her caring little boy. "I think he will love it."

Jamie smiled brightly.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, announcing Karen's arrival. Peyton went to answer it.

"Hey guys" she said to Karen as she opened the door to reveal her along with Andy and Lily.

"Peyton!" the little girl squealed as she flew into Peyton's arms.

"Hey Lilster, haven't you gotten big!" exclaimed Peyton as she lead them all into the house.

The three arrivals were all greeted with enthusiastic hugs from the gang. Jamie and Lily were particularly excited to see each other again and showed this though an extremely high pitched scream and an impromptu game of Tag, causing the adults to laugh.

"Are we all ready to go?" said Karen after she had finished admiring Jamie's poster.

"All those who are allowed are" grumbled Brooke. The others laughed.

"It's ok Brooke" Lily shouted from across the room "I can't go either, Momma says I'm too little" she stated as she glared at her mother.

"Don't give me that look young lady, it never worked with your brother and it won't work with you."

Lily merely shrugged and walked up to her mother. "Give Lukie a big kiss from me momma" she said sweetly as she hugged her goodbye and said bye to Andy.

"Right then, are we ready to go?" said Andy

"Wait, how come Andy gets to go and we don't?" pouted Skills.

Andy laughed "I'm only giving them a ride to the hospital. I will be back soon." He answered.

"Well…..good" stated Skills meekly.

* * *

Lucas was feeling very tired after his long discussion with Dan. Noticing this, Dan spoke up.

"Are you ok son?" he asked

"Yeah. Can you call the nurse for me? I think my medication is wearing off" he stated.

"No problem" said Dan as he pushed the call button.

Seconds later the door opened and Vi strolled in.

"Everything ok?" she winked.

"Nurse, my son needs some more medication please" remarked Dan.

Vi looked at Dan suspiciously for a moment, before dealing with the request.

"I didn't know your father was here Lucas" she said.

"Yeah, this is my dad, Dan" he stated

Dan looked at Lucas happily upon hearing his son calling him 'dad.'

"Nice to meet you" Vi said forcefully before turning her attention back to Lucas.

"Right tough guy, you're topped up and ready to go. I will be back to check on you later" With one last wink, she left the room hurriedly.

Lucas watched her go with a frown. "Weird" he muttered.

Dan laughed and was about to answer when a shout boomed across the room.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

**Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. What's gonna happen now?**

**In regards to Dan, I'm writing him as what I think he feels…..if that makes sense :)**** I think that he really does, deep down, care for Nathan and Lucas and just wants to be a part of their life. Although I do think that he is scum for what he did to Keith! So that's why I've written him this way. And he hasn't really lied to Lucas……..just twisted the truth a bit ;) I also added the house scene to show you how all the other characters are!**

**Please review and let me know your views on this chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Sorry it's taken me longer than usual to update but I have had a really busy week- I had a major assignment to finish for university, my cats had to go to the vets and all the electricity in the house decided to stop working-causing me to almost die when I had no access to the computer, TV, radio, lights, phone, etc! But thankfully that is all sorted now; I would have really sucked living in the 1800's!**

**As usual, I am going to thank you all for your latest reviews, and some of you have hit the nail on the head with your ideas! You probably want me shut up now so you can read the story, so I will! I present to you, chapter 8!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Nathan's scream erupted into the quite room.

Dan whipped round to see his younger son in the doorway. The fire in Nathan's eyes would have scared the devil himself.

"Nathan..." Dan began

Before he could finish the sentence, Nathan had dragged him up by the collar and slammed him into the wall, aiming a punch to side of his face.

"YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" he all but roared. Karen, Haley and Peyton were frozen in shock at the doorway and Lucas was looking on helplessly.

"Nathan, leave him alone!" Lucas cried as he struggled to try and get up.

But Nathan didn't hear him. Instead he threw another punch to Dan, this time landing it in his father's stomach.

"Nathan!" Lucas shouted as he managed to sit up unaided.

This time Nathan heard his brother's shout and turned to look at him, still keeping Dan pinned tightly against the wall. Upon seeing his brother swaying and breathing heavily, he quickly released Dan and moved toward Lucas.

"Lucas are you ok?" Nathan's voice had returned to its normal softness. He was taken aback by Lucas' glare.

"Leave him alone" Lucas struggled to get out the words.

Nathan was shocked at Lucas' defence of the man he had always hated.

"What?" Nathan gasped

"Leave Dad alone" he spoke. Lucas' words were like a slap in the face to every occupant in the room. Hearing Lucas call Dan 'Dad' reminded them of the severity of Lucas' condition.

"Lucas" began Karen

"Don't" he responded. He looked over to Dan "Are you ok?" he rasped.

Dan nodded at Lucas and smiled, still glowing from hearing his son call him Dad.

Lucas' breathing was still heavy and he had a pained look on his face. Seeing this, Nathan moved to help him, but Lucas flinched away at his brother's touch.

"Luke…" said Nathn, hurt.

"Stay……away……from……..me" he gasped out, his breathing still heavy. He had gone a deathly pale.

Seeing this, Peyton and Haley began to panic, and lunged for the call button.

Dan straightened himself up and rushed to Lucas' side, concern etched in his features.

"Lucas, try and calm down ok?" he asked as he looked toward his son's heart monitor. It was racing. He placed a hand on his son's shoulder and met his eyes.

"Lie down Luke." He requested, gently pushing on his shoulder. Lucas moved willingly, all the while looking at his father.

Nathan couldn't believe what he was seeing. The fact that Lucas allowed Dan to touch him, but flinched when he tried, hurt him more than he could bear. What had Dan said to cause Lucas to act this way? He cursed himself for ever leaving the hospital. Lucas was vulnerable right now, and from what he was seeing, Dan had used that to his advantage. Nathan, once again felt the anger swell up in him. He looked over at the others, who looked equally as shocked at the scene they were witnessing. Karen in particular, looked extremely upset. Nathan moved back toward Dan.

"Get away from him" he growled quietly.

Dan raised his head slightly, but didn't look at Nathan, instead keeping his gaze fixed on Lucas, who now was struggling even more to breathe "Nathan, your brother needs me" Dan spoke softly.

Upon hearing these words, Nathan became incensed and moved to grab Dan, when the door burst open. Doctor Morgan and Nurse Vi scrambled into the room.

"What is going on in here?" Doctor Morgan demanded, looking at Nathan who had paused in his lunge at Dan. Upon seeing Lucas he rushed over to the bed.

"Sir I need you to move" he told Dan, who did as he was told.

"Lucas? Lucas you need to calm down ok" Doctor Morgan requested, but Lucas either couldn't hear him, or wasn't listening. "Lucas come on, breathe."

Nurse Vi grabbed the oxygen mask from behind the bed and placed it over Lucas' face. The heart monitor began beeping frantically.

"I need you all to get out, now!" Doctor Morgan shouted to the others. When none of them moved, Vi ran over and single handedly, pushed them all out of the room.

* * *

As the door slammed in their faces, they stared at it helplessly.

"Oh my god" cried Peyton as another nurse rushed into the room.

Nathan stared at the floor. This was his fault, well, Dan's as well. Upon thinking of his father he turned to face him. Dan just stared back.

"What the hell have you done to him?"

Dan looked at Nathan of a moment before replying. "I was seeing my son"

"YOUR SON?" Nathan yelled disbelievingly

"Yes, _my son_" Dan emphasized "who no one thought to tell me, was in a major car accident and nearly died!" he yelled back.

"You had no right to know!" replied Nathan.

"I'm his father! I have a right to know if my son is in the hospital!"

"HE IS NOT YOUR SON, HE'S KEITH'S" Nathan practically screamed "DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND CLAIM THAT YOU'RE A FATHER BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT!"

The girls watched the scene helplessly. None of them had ever seen Nathan this mad, and none of them knew what the hell to do. All Peyton was thinking about was whether Lucas was ok.

"Well Lucas disagrees" Dan snapped, snidely.

"HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS! HOW THE HELL IS HE SUPPOSED TO KNOW YOU? YOU'VE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF HIM BY LYING TO HIM!"

"I told him the truth" Dan replied. "I gave him the answers that he was desperate for. Can you say the same? Did you tell him the truth?"

At Nathan's pause Dan smiled slightly. "Who's the liar now?" he asked.

That question was Nathan's undoing, and once again, lunged at Dan, punching him hard in the face. He raised his fist but paused in mid air when he heard a voice.

"Does anyone want to tell me why Lucas just suffered a mild heart attack?"

* * *

Everyone turned at Doctor Morgan's words.

"What?" gasped Peyton.

"I have just had to help Lucas through a mild heart attack. Thank god we got there in time otherwise it would have been worse. Not to mention the fact that he has pulled seven stitches in his stomach. So I will ask you again. Why was Lucas so upset and why does my hallway look like a scene from fight club?" Doctor Morgan spoke angrily.

Nathan looked at the floor, then up at the Doctor. He was about to ask a question but was beaten to it by someone else.

"Is he ok?" Karen asked.

Doctor Morgan sighed. "We have patched up his stitches and clamed him down. Nurse Vivian is sitting with him now. He is awake, but tired as we have had to give him some more painkillers. Now, I have answered your question, would someone mind answering mine?" Doctor Morgan was not happy.

"It's my fault" spoke Nathan "when I saw Dan in there I snapped and shoved him against the wall. Lucas tried to get up and stop me, but I wouldn't listen." Nathan said mournfully.

Doctor Morgan glared at him, then at Dan. "Are you both trying to kill Lucas? Because that's what you nearly did."

Everyone looked shameful.

"What Lucas needs right now is support, stability and rest. It appears that he isn't getting much of any of that right now. I don't care what issues you have with each other and right now I really don't care. All I care about is making sure Lucas is ok. You should all care about that too. He doesn't need this right now and he definitely doesn't need another heart attack. You should be helping him! You're his family for Christ's sake! And you're going to kill him if you carry on! He has already gone through so much and it is a miracle that he is still alive! Whatever issues you have, deal with them outside my hospital!"

The entire hallway was silenced by Doctor Morgan's words. Nathan had never felt so low. _I almost killed my brother_ he though shockingly, he was disgusted with himself.

"Can we go and see him?" Nathan asked.

"No" said Doctor Morgan. "I am not letting anyone see him. Right now, none of you deserve to. I am not going to risk him having another heart attack."

Nathan looked away.

"Nurse Vivian is going to stay with him and when I feel that he is ok to have visitors, I may let you see him, but for now, I am going to let him get some much needed rest. When you do go in, you better apologize to him and tell him the truth. I told him to trust you and look where that got him." Doctor Morgan sighed. "Just tell him the truth. He deserves it." With that, Doctor Morgan walked away.

Dan glanced at the others and sat down.

"What are you doing?" snapped Nathan

"Nathan, please, let's just leave it for now ok?" pleaded Haley, relieved when Nathan nodded.

The rest of the group sat down, at the opposite end of the room to Dan. Karen glared at him from her seat. The group settled down and waited for news that they could go and see Lucas.

Haley looked down at the poster in her hands. The one that Jamie had made for his Uncle. She looked at the smiling face of Lucas and wished, not for the first time, to have her best friend back. She wanted to see that smile, but she knew that right now, they were a long way from ever seeing it again.

**Whoa! How preachy did Dr Morgan get? And how defensive was Nathan? I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Push the button and review to let me know your thoughts!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Special thanks go to Tweetiebird86 for reviewing every chapter! And to everyone else who reviewed. With nothing left to say, I give you chapter 9!**

* * *

Two hours had passed since Doctor Morgan had left them and not a word had been spoken between the occupants in the room. The only communication was the occasional glare thrown across to the dark-haired man who occupied the chair at the opposite end of the room. Not being able to stand the silence, Peyton rose from her chair. At Haley's questioning glance, she simply said:

"I'm going for some fresh air" and with that, she left.

On her way outside, she passed the door to Lucas' room. She hesitated. As she raised her hand to the door knob, she stopped as she remembered Doctor Morgan's words. She sighed. She had no right sneaking in to see Lucas, its no like she was family or even his girlfriend and after what she had seen earlier, it was unlikely that Lucas would want her anywhere near him. She gave one last glance to his door, before sadly walking away.

* * *

He opened his eyes slowly and groaned at the pain that inhabited his body. He turned his head toward the window, and from what he could tell, it was late at night. He started to shift in the bed when a gentle voice halted his movements.

"No, no, no. You stay still tough guy or your gonna pop them stitches again" Vi chuckled.

Lucas was confused at first until the earlier events flooded back to him. _At least I can remember something _he thought mockingly.

"Where is everyone?" he leaned back down as his chest began to feel tight.

"They are not allowed back in until they promise to behave."

Lucas nodded. "Good"

Vi looked taken aback for a moment before asking "Why is that good?"

"Because all they do is lie to me. I don't want to be around people like that. Except my Dad, he was the only one who told me the truth."

Vi frowned sadly. "Lucas the others didn't lie to you."

"Yes they did. They wouldn't tell me about my Dad, they avoided my questions."

"Honey they only did that because they didn't want to upset you so soon after your accident."

Lucas snorted. "Right"

Vi felt helpless. She didn't want to meddle in business that wasn't hers but she felt helpless. She knew who Dan Scott was, knew what he had done. When she had left the room earlier it had been to call Nathan. She was halfway through dialing their number when the people in question had strode up the corridor.

"Lucas I know it's not my place but do you want my opinion?" she paused "It would be easier if you say yes because you're gonna get it anyway" she finished when Lucas gave no response.

"Yes" he replied quietly.

"If you're wondering who to trust, trust your brother and Mother. Trust the people who have been here for you since you opened your eyes."

Lucas looked unsure, seeing this, Vi added

"Don't say anything, just think about it and let them explain to you." With that she squeezed his hand, gave him a wink, and left the room.

* * *

Outside, Vi saw the family in question looking defeated. She walked over to them. Upon hearing her approach, Nathan looked up.

"Lucas is fine. He has just woken up so is feeling a little weak. I suggest that in 5 minutes, you make your way into his room and calmly explain what is going on. But DO NOT cause him to get upset. I am from the Bronx and have no problem laying you all out on this hospital floor if you cause him to have another heart attack."

The others looked slightly panicked upon hearing this but relaxed when they saw her smile.

"Thanks Vivian" said Nathan.

"Call me Vi." She pulled Karen and Nathan towards her. "I just convinced him to hear you out. Don't mess it up."

They nodded and moved towards Lucas' room. When Vi saw Dan get up she turned to him and spoke.

"Give them a few minutes first Mr. Scott, you don't want to crowd Lucas do you?"

Dan glared at Vi for a moment, hearing the fake sincerity in her voice.

"No" he mumbled as he sat back down.

* * *

Lucas heard their approach to his room, and took a deep breath to steady himself. The door knob turned and his brother's worried face peeked through. Upon seeing Lucas awake, he moved aside to let the others in. Lucas watched as Haley, Karen and Peyton, who had come back from her walk, piled into the room.

"Where's Dad?" Lucas asked.

Nathan flinched at his brother's concern for their Father's absence and his choice of reference.

"He's waiting outside Luke" Nathan replied as he sat at his bedside uncertainly. When Lucas made no objections the others followed Nathan's movements.

Seeing Nathan's hesitance at how to continue, Karen intervened.

"Lucas, we have some explaining to do. We owe you that much."

Lucas nodded at his mother's words and waited for her to continue. Before she could, Peyton interrupted.

'How are you feeling?" she asked quickly.

Lucas tried to keep a stone face but his façade melted when he saw her pained expression. He smiled a little.

"I'm ok"

Peyton looked skeptically at him but before she could respond, Lucas continued.

"So. What is it that you need to tell me" he spoke angrily to the others.

Nathan took a deep breath "Lucas whatever Dan has told you is a lie." He began

"He told me you would say that" Lucas replied.

"He also told me he had a heart but he was wrong about that!" Nathan snapped, angry that Dan had turned Lucas against them.

Seeing Lucas' expression of shock Nathan hurriedly apologized.

"I'm sorry Luke. But you asked for the truth and I promise we are going to tell you. Once you know what really happened, you will understand. Everything Dan told you is a lie." Nathan repeated.

"Really" began Lucas "so he didn't leave my mom when she was pregnant? Didn't try to see me when I was little, only to have Mom refuse him? I didn't meet him till senior year or move in with him?" Lucas demanded.

At Nathan's lack of response, Lucas nodded. "So he was telling the truth"

"Not in the way you think Lucas" said Karen, knowing full well that Dan had twisted the truth.

"He lies with the truth, it's what makes him so convincing." She clarified.

When Lucas still looked doubtful she decided to take a different approach.

"I will be right back" and she hurriedly left the room.

* * *

Dan looked up when he heard the door open and was shocked when he saw Karen coming over to him. He stood up.

"You are going in there and you are going to tell my son the truth" she demanded.

"Our son" Dan corrected.

His response was a slap across the face. He pulled back in shock.

"You have no claim to him what so ever" she hissed. "You had no right to come and see him and what you've told him is outrageous. Do you have any idea how confused you have made him? You have isolated him from the people he needs most."

Dan looked away from Karen.

"I was trying to spend some time with him"

"You have no right to! And we all know that if Lucas could remember, he would've thrown you out of this hospital before you even had a chance to open your mouth! Now you get in there and tell him the truth before I have you sent back to where you belong!"

Dan looked at the fury in the worn Mother's face.

"Is it so wrong for a man to try and reconnect with his child?"

Karen laughed sharply. "I don't know which is more amusing, the fact that you refered to yourself as a man, or the fake look on your face when you said it."

Dan became angry "I am not being fake."

"Dan, in order to be sincere, it requires a heart and soul. And we all know that you sold yours a long time ago. Now, get in there and tell him the truth!"

"Why would I do that?" he answered.

Karen glared at him for a moment.

"Well Lucas will find out either way because if you don't tell, I sure as hell will. And also, if you truly are being sincere, then you will want to tell him the truth, because when Lucas gets his memory back, and he will, he will hate you even more when he finds out what you done."

Dan looked towards Lucas' room then back at Karen, who was awaiting his answer.

* * *

It had been at least five minutes since Karen had left and not a word had been spoken since. Nathan didn't know what to do and Lucas was making no effort to try and talk to him. Seeing this, Peyton decided to step in.

"Lucas" she said softly.

When he looked over at her she continued.

"I know you have no reason to trust what you are being told, but I promise you, we are the ones you need to believe. That may seem hard to do, but I guarantee that it is the right thing to do." The tone of her voice and the desperate plea inside her green eyes convinced Lucas that she was telling the truth. He didn't know why he had this overwhelming acceptance of her words. The same thing had been said to him by countless people over the last two days, but when she said them, Lucas could think of no argument to present. Instead he gave a slight nod. At this, Peyton gave him the brightest smile he had seen since he first saw her.

Beside him Nathan cleared his throat, attracting Lucas' attention.

"Luke, I want to apologize for how I acted earlier. When I saw Dan in here with you I just lost it. I never meant to hurt you. I have a history about not thinking things through." He glanced at Lucas, who just stared at him. Lucas opened his mouth, ready to respond, when the door was pushed open, showing Karen.

She looked at her son and shot him a smile, before moving aside to let Dan in.

* * *

Lucas stared at his father and noticed the bruises that had started to appear on his face. He turned to Nathan, who had stood up at Dan's entrance and was about to protest when he was silenced by Karen.

"Dan I believe you have something you want to say to Lucas." She stated.

All eyes turned to Dan as he moved towards his son's bedside.

"How you feeling son?" he began.

"I've been better" Lucas replied.

Dan nodded and looked down. Karen cleared her throat as if to remind him of why he was in there. It had been against all her instincts to let this monster near her son, but she would be damned if she did Dan's dirty work for him.

Dan stared at Lucas for a moment before finally speaking. He was well aware that Peyton, Nathan, Haley and Karen were all staring at him and he shifted, uncomfortable under their gaze.

"Lucas, son, there are some things that I need to tell you."

Lucas gazed at his father, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"What things?' Lucas asked.

Dan took a deep breath. "I haven't been entirely honest with you." He muttered.

"What?" Lucas looked less than happy.

"I lied to you Lucas."

At this Lucas became angered. "You lied? About what?"

Peyton moved to the bed. "Lucas, stay calm and just listen to him ok?"

Lucas gave the faintest nod in her direction and took a calming breath.

When he looked back at Dan, it was with a glare. Nathan, who was stood near the window, took great satisfaction in seeing Lucas behave this way towards Dan.

Dan saw the glare that Lucas gave him and knew that there was no going back now.

"Lucas, me and you have never really gotten along well, in fact you hate me." it hurt Dan to admit that out loud.

Lucas just stared at Dan, waiting for him to continue.

"I've done a lot of bad things, things that I'm not proud of." He paused.

"Like what?" asked Lucas.

When Dan didn't respond, Karen spoke up. "Tell him Dan." She said sharply.

Dan still didn't speak so Karen looked at Lucas.

"Lucas, do you remember what I told you about Keith?"

Lucas thought back to their conversation from much earlier in the day.

"Yes. You said he helped raise me, that he was Lily's father."

Karen nodded encouragingly at her son "and remember I said he was like a father to you, and that he was going to adopt you before he died."

Lucas nodded. Karen turned back to Dan, her voice now cold.

"Tell Lucas how Keith died"

Dan stared at the Mother of his eldest son. He shook his head.

Nathan stepped forward. "Tell him what you did." he growled.

Lucas was looking between them all.

"Tell him or I will" Said Nathan.

Dan paused and then began to speak. "I…………."

He took a deep breath. "I killed him" he finally admitted.

Lucas was stunned. That was the last thing he expected to hear. And by the looks on everyone's faces, the answer was truthful. He tried to speak but no words would come out. His father was a murderer, he killed the man his mom loved, and he lied to him. His family had been telling him the truth, and he turned against them. He felt awful. Most of all he felt anger towards his so called father. He now understood his brother's rage.

"Get out" he spoke at Dan.

"Lucas….." Dan began.

"I said get out!" he yelled.

Dan looked at his son. He had blown it. He saw the hatred he was so used to seeing burn in his son's eyes. He sighed and turned "I'm sorry" he whispered as he left the room.

Lucas didn't know what to say. How would the others forgive him? He wouldn't blame them if they walked away from him and never came back. He felt so lost. He turned to his mother and brother.

"I'm so sorry" he said blinking back the tears in his eyes.

Karen moved to her son. "Honey, you have _nothing _to apologize for. Nothing at all."

"But I didn't believe you; I doubted you and sent you away. How can you forgive me?" he cried.

Karen held back her own tears at her son's anguish. She ran a hand through his hair.

"There is nothing to forgive." She replied as she held her son, thankful that he now knew the truth.

**There you have it, chapter 9. Please comment as reviews are my inspiration!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! So Obama won! Yay! I know I'm English but I was really hoping that he would win! Anyone got any thoughts to episode 9? I won't give anything away in case you haven't seen it but I was rather shocked at Peyton's response at the end of the episode-not what I wanted to hear! Anyway, thanks (as usual) for all your reviews. You guys rock! Here's chapter 10!**

* * *

As Karen held her son, Nathan, Peyton and Haley left the room, knowing that Karen needed some time alone with Lucas.

As the door clicked shut behind them, Haley let out a long sigh and leant against the wall.

"Thank God he knows the truth" she confessed.

Nathan nodded and responded "yeah, but he still has a long way to go"

There was silence amongst the trio for a moment. Nathan turned his gaze to Peyton.

"You ok Sawyer?" he asked.

Peyton turned to him and gave a weak smile.

"Yeah, I just wish he was ok. He looks so broken and lost and I don't know how to help him."

Nathan truly felt for Peyton. He had a good idea of what it was like to watch the person you love trapped in hospital, hurt and not being able to do anything. His gaze drifted to Haley and saw her staring blankly at the floor.

He sighed heavily.

"Ok, since I happen to like you two ladies, I am gonna treat you both to dinner." He stated proudly.

The girls looked over at him and then at each other.

"Where you gonna take us" queried Haley

"Why, the hospital café of course!" he exclaimed dramatically, throwing his arms out.

"I thought you said you liked us?" laughed Peyton as the three made their way down the corridor.

* * *

Karen held her son in a warm embrace. She felt the dampness on her shoulder from his silent tears and could not stop her own from leaking down her cheeks. She had never seen Lucas look so lost and broken and wished there was something more she could do.

_Help him Keith _she thought _Help our boy. Please._

She felt Lucas shift in her arms and she pulled back to see his tear-stained yet embarrassed face.

"I'm sorry" he mumbled.

She lifted her hand to his chin and directed his stare to her face "Stop apologizing Lucas. You have done nothing wrong."

He looked away but Karen stopped him.

"Do you think that I would be here if I was mad at you? Don't blame yourself for Dan's actions. He's the bad guy, not you."

"I didn't mean to doubt you." He spoke softly.

"I know that Lucas, so does everyone else. I just wish I had seen this coming and stopped that monster from coming anywhere near you."

They sat in silence for a while as Lucas absorbed his mother's words. He glanced out the window and saw the pink tipped horizon. He willed himself to remember. He felt like a stranger in his own body. He didn't even know what his name was until someone else told him. He looked over at his mother who was staring at him worryingly.

"I wish I could remember" he whispered in a child like voice.

Karen felt a tug at her heart when she saw the broken look on her son's face.

"You will honey. And I will do everything I can to help you ok? You are not alone in this" she stated firmly as she reached out to grasp his hand. She smiled when she felt a light squeeze back.

At that moment, the door opened announcing the arrival of Nurse Vi. She smiled at the scene in front of her as she moved over to Lucas' monitors, making notes on the clipboard as she went.

"How are you feeling then tough guy?" she winked at him

"Much better thanks" Lucas smiled lightly.

"I'm very glad to hear it. Ok all your vitals look good. Is there any problems you want to talk about?" she asked kindly.

Lucas shook his head.

"Good. Well Dr Morgan will be by later today to discuss what's going to be done with this leg of yours" upon seeing Karen's worried glance she continued "no need to worry, he just wants to sort it out." She smiled.

At this Karen visibly relaxed.

"Well then, give me a buzz if ya need anything handsome" she winked once more at Lucas and left the room, laughing at the look on his face.

"She seems to like you" Karen giggled.

Lucas turned red and mumbled "stop it" causing Karen to laugh harder at her son's embarrassment.

"What's so funny?" asked Nathan as he trooped back into the room with Peyton and Haley following closely. They all settled themselves around the room.

At Nathan's question, Karen simply stated. " Lucas has an admirer in the form of Nurse Vivian."

Nathan looked over at Lucas and, like Karen, began to laugh at the expression on his face. The others soon joined in but Lucas didn't find it funny at all.

"Guys its not that funny" he looked away, once again embarrassed.

Once their laughter had died down, Nathan turned to Lucas.

"So, you ok man?" he asked his brother.

Lucas looked guiltily at Nathan. "Yeah, listen, I'm……."

"Dude, don't apologize. There's no need." Nathan interrupted.

Lucas looked taken back at this and then smiled at his brother.

"So are we ok again? He wondered.

"Luke we were never not ok." Nathan paused then said "if that makes any sense."

Lucas laughed and nodded, happy that his family was ok with him.

"So Lucas, we have a present for you." Said Haley.

Lucas expression turned to a questioning one. When he didn't say anything, Haley continued.

"Nathan and I, have a son." She began. "His name is James Lucas Scott and you are his Uncle and Godfather."

Upon hearing this, Lucas looked at the couple in awe. "You gave him my name?"

Nathan nodded and smiled broadly. "Of course."

"And you made me Godfather?"

Nathan and Haley nodded again as Lucas thought back to Nurse Vi's words. _You have a pretty great family you know. _Lucas couldn't agree more.

"This is the present. Its from him, to help you remember. He gets all the credit for it. I am just the delivery person." Haley spread the poster across Lucas' bed, allowing him to see it easily.

Lucas looked down at it and couldn't help the grin from spreading across his face.

"That's Jamie there" Nathan said as he pointed to the picture of Him, Jamie and Lucas at a basketball game. Jamie was perched on Lucas' right shoulder with his arms resting on Nathan's head.

"He's a cute kid." Lucas commented. He scanned the other pictures on the page, hoping to recognise the faces, but to no avail.

"Who are all these people?" he asked the room in general.

Peyton perched on the edge of the bed, along with Haley and helped to identify the people.

"This is all of us on graduation day" Peyton began "This is Brooke, a good friend of yours and also your ex-girlfriend." At this comment, Lucas looked up.

"Ex?"

"yeah. You dated for a while, on and off. You broke up mid way through senior year."

"Why?" Lucas wondered.

Peyton stared at him. "your heart wasn't really in it and you both realized you were better off as friends." She stated.

Lucas looked down at the picture again and noticed something. "Haley, are you pregnant in this picture?"

Haley laughed and nodded. "Yep. In fact I went into labor during the ceremony."

Lucas looked between her and Nathan. "You sure like getting a head start on things don't you?"

Nathan chuckled and turned to his wife. "We sure do."

"so who are these?" Lucas asked pointing to a picture of him at the rivercourt with the boys.

Haley took this question. "You've been friends with these guys since you were 6. That's Skills, Fergie, Junk and Mouth." She said, pointing to each individual in the picture. "You basically live there. It's the Rivercourt. You go there practically every day to play basketball."

Lucas gazed at the picture. "Looks like a pretty cool place."

"Is this Lily?" he asked Karen as he pointed to the picture of him and a little brunette girl.

Karen laughed at the picture and nodded. Lucas and Lily were wearing big smiles, and countless amounts of flour. "This is when Lily talked you into helping her make a cake. When I came home I found you and her covered in flour and chocolate chasing each other around the house. The place was a mess. I couldn't tell who was the bigger kid, you or Lily."

Everyone laughed and Lucas smiled at the picture, tracing Lily's face with his finger. It looked like he had a great little sister. He turned his attention to a picture near the centre of the page and saw a picture of him when he was baby with his mother and a man he didn't know (A/N- basically the picture of him as a baby with Keith and Karen that popped up in a few episodes)

He then saw the same man in a different picture with him when he was much older; it portrayed Lucas in a basketball jersey with the man's arm wrapped around his shoulders. The man was also wearing a basketball jersey.

He glanced up to see everyone watching him. He turned to his mother. "Is this him?"

Karen nodded. "That's Keith." She said simply.

"This was taken when you were 4 months old and we had just moved into our new home. Keith helped us and insisted that we took a picture, to capture the momentous occasion." Karen smiled at the memory.

"Our new neighbor took it for us and as she walked away she said what a cute family we were." She smiled sadly and pointed to the next picture.

"This is you and Keith right after the father/son basketball game at school. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the two of you."

Lucas stared at the man who had raised him; the man everyone else said was his real father.

"I wish I could remember" he whispered again. He was about to say something else when another picture caught his attention. It was one of him and Peyton. In the photo, Peyton was sitting on Lucas' lap with their arms around each other. They looked happy.

Peyton saw him spot the picture and inwardly sighed. She looked to the others who simply nodded at her.

"What's this?" came Lucas' question as he stared at the curly haired blonde.

The others stood and left the room, for which Peyton was grateful.

"That was taken when we used to go out." Peyton informed him.

At Lucas' look, she knew that a lot more, more painful questions were to come.

**There you have it! Sorry about the lack of action in this chapter, but I needed Lucas to learn a bit more about his life. Plus, I couldn't leave Jamie's cool poster out of the story! There will be a lot of leyton in the next chapter.**

**Reviews are like cookies! **


	11. Chapter 11

**So guys, your patience has persevered, add that to all your great reviews and you totally deserve this Leyton chapter! It will, literally, be all Leyton and a lot of talk, so I hope it doesn't bore you too much! :)**** Took me a while to try and piece all the long history together, but I got there in the end. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint! Without further ado, I give you the greatness that is…….Leyton!!!**

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Lucas' stare was burning a hole right through Peyton and she knew that she couldn't leave the topic alone now; he deserved to know the truth. Her mind was being ravaged with thoughts and the best way to approach the rather painful story that was their past. Green eyes met blue as she forced herself to meet his gaze.

Looking into Lucas' eyes, Peyton found the courage she needed and took a deep breath to steady herself. She bravely reached out to grasp his hand, needing the contact with him. She was happy that he let her.

"Lucas, I know I should have mentioned all this before, but with everything else going on, I couldn't."

Lucas nodded at her. Surprisingly, he wasn't at all mad with Peyton for keeping this from him. He was just interested to know what had happened between them. _This probably explains why I have been so trusting of her_ he thought. He still was a little amazed that he had been so mad at the others for keeping things from him, yet was fine with Peyton. Looking into her eyes, he saw the pain and trouble she was having, knowing that this must be difficult for her.

At Lucas' nod, Peyton continued.

"I'm gonna start at the beginning ok? I'm not going to leave anything out but I just want to ask you to wait until I have finished before you ask any questions ok?"

"Ok" Lucas agreed, sensing the internal battle she was going through.

Peyton paused and steadied herself.

"From the minute we locked eyes, I've loved you. We didn't actually start talking until the night I nearly ran you over. I was a bitch back then" she chuckled "I had to slam on the brakes and you just stood there looking at me. When you pulled back your hood, I was drawn to your eyes. Of course, being the obnoxious person I was, I tried to ignore what I was feeling and ignore you, so I pretended that I didn't really give a damn. Of course you wouldn't leave me alone that easily." Lucas smiled and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, which seemed to spur Peyton on.

"You weren't like all the other guys. You actually cared about others, always helped people and were understanding. You took everything in your stride and didn't let anyone get to you. Except Nathan." At Lucas' questioning expression she continued. "You two didn't really get on well back then. Mutual hatred basically sums it up. He hated the fact that you were always around and you hated that fact that I was dating him."

Lucas was taken aback by this. But he held his tongue and let Peyton carry on.

"Nathan was an ass back then and he will be the first to admit it. You had just joined up to Ravens and he was scared of the competition, so he challenged you to a one on one game. Which you won, quite impressively I might add." She paused momentarily. "Anyway, you always seemed to be there when I was in trouble. When my car broke down, you were the one who came out to fix it. I didn't know at the time that I had called the garage you worked at. You tried making conversation and I was being a bitch but you still carried on, un-phased by me." she looked up at him. "When you fixed my car you fixed my heart."

The blazing look in her eyes showed Lucas the truth in her words and he was hanging onto every single one. Peyton continued by telling him about when he dated Brooke and how they had cheated on her. He was shocked by this, but did as Peyton requested and didn't interrupt. However, he couldn't help adding a comment when she told him about his accident on the way to pick his mom up from the airport, back in high school.

"I don't do well with cars do I?" he remarked, causing Peyton to chuckle.

He was amazed by the story of their relationship and felt saddened when she explained that they broke it off, and after a while he stared to date Brooke again. He was disappointed in himself when he realized that he had almost destroyed a great friendship between Peyton and Brooke. She told him all about the discovery of her birth mom and the summer they spent together, just the two of them. Then Peyton was telling him about the shooting. At this, Lucas became more alert and he focused intently on Peyton's words.

"I was hiding in the library, behind a bookshelf. I heard someone coming and I thought it was the shooter, back to finish me off. Then you came round the corner, and I was so happy that it was you. You looked so worried, and you sat beside and promised me that you weren't going to leave me. You kept your promise. You sat with me and talked about pointless stuff. I had never felt safer then I did right then. I know that sounds weird, but as long as you were with me, I knew I was gonna be ok." She looked down at their entwined hands. "I told you that I loved you and then I kissed you."

"You were saying goodbye." Lucas spoke softly before realizing that he had interrupted.

Peyton didn't seem to mind and nodded at his statement. "I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it. I passed out by this point so I only know what happened from what you told me. You carried me out of the school. You bumped into Jimmy on the way out, but Keith arrived and he let you go. You saved me Lucas and if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here today."

Lucas once again squeezed her hand, giving her the comfort he knew she needed. He was amazed by all that she had told him so far, amazed by what she had been through. Little did he know that there was much more drama to come.

Peyton had stopped speaking by now, reflecting on what she had told Lucas. She knew it was going to get harder and knew that she had to tell him. In a strange way, she felt slightly envious of Lucas not being able to remember all the heart ache. She instantly berated herself for thinking such a thing. Lucas didn't ask to forget. She looked into his face and saw the sorrow in it. _God knows what he must be thinking right now_ she thought.

Looking into his eyes, she saw the unspoken encouragement to continue and she explained about the events that unfolded at Nathan and Haley's wedding, her fall out with Brooke and his split from her. She told him all about the discovery of Haley and Karen's pregnancies. Then she got onto the topic of psycho Derek.

"He pretended to be my brother and was very convincing. He knew the answers to my questions and spent a lot of time with me. You made sure you were around though. And you weren't fooled that easily. You kept telling me that there was something strange about him but I didn't want to believe it. I discovered the truth though, thanks to you. When Derek found out I knew he came to the house. He was mad; he had put up loads of pictures of me around my room and even had a tattoo of me on his back. He went crazy, hitting me and………" at this Peyton paused. "He tried to rape me" Lucas' grip on her hand became very tight. He was astounded by her courage, not being able to even imagine what she must have felt. To his surprise, she smiled.

"Once again, you saved me. You fought him off with the help of my real brother. You're always saving me." For a moment she hoped he would respond with his usual answer _someone's got to. _But it never came, reminding Peyton of why she was telling this story. Mentally sighing she carried on, telling him when she confessed her love to him and his awful response of "Oh." Upon hearing his reaction, Lucas looked a little embarrassed and grinned sheepishly. Peyton grinned back at him.

"It wasn't until the sate championship that you gave me then answer I was desperate to hear. That was when we finally got together; it was one of the best moments of my life, although our happiness was short-lived." Lucas looked downcast at this, wondering what on earth would happen to them now. He had to admit, this was a rather gripping story. _This would make a great book _he joked to himself. He listened carefully as he learned about Haley's accident and his heart attack. _One of many _he thought. Peyton then went on to explain how, when he was better, they made the decision to just be happy and finished the story of senior year, including everything from the birth of Lily and Jamie, psycho Dereks return, to Dan's arrest. Lucas still kept his word and silently listened.

He wondered what had happened to them. He knew that they weren't together anymore and he was desperate to know why. He knew Peyton would reveal that eventually, but he was becoming a little impatient.

By this point, Peyton hadn't spoken for a while. She had gotten to the hardest part of the story so far, but how to tell it? She struggled to find the words she needed, knowing that they would open up a waterfall of emotions. At least, they would for her.

"Are you ok?" Lucas whispered, feeling the vice grip she had on his hand. He didn't complain though.

"Yeah." She stated. "It's just that we have reached the hardest part of the story."

Lucas put his free hand over their interlocked ones, causing Peyton to glance up at him.

"Take all the time you need" he reassured. Peyton smiled gratefully and gazed out the window. Neither of them had noticed the sunset. From the darkness of the sky and the many stars littered across it, Peyton guessed that it was very early in the morning.

"You proposed to me." she said out of the blue, shocking Lucas not just with the noise, but with the words she had spoken.

"Proposed?" he gaped.

"Yes." Peyton swallowed the lump that had formed from the memory of that painful day.

"You flew out to LA for a surprise visit. We went out to dinner but I got called back into work, so you went to the hotel and I arrived a few hours later. I found you asleep, and the ring in its box on the floor. Eventually you woke up and saw me with it." She stopped for a moment to collect herself. "You came over to me and got down on one knee but before you could say anything, I stopped you." She stared into his face and saw his question _why? _

"I didn't think that it was the right time. We were both so young, living on opposite sides of the country but you were adamant that we could make it work. So I told you we should wait a year and then get married, I told you someday."

Lucas was hooked to Peyton's words, felt the built up emotions rolling off her in waves. He had proposed to her when they were 19 and she has said someday. He was brought out of his thoughts by her final words.

"We fell asleep and when I woke up the next morning, you had gone." She looked away from him, willing herself not to cry.

_I just walked away? What the hell? _Thought Lucas. He didn't even stay to talk to her about it. He voiced his thoughts, knowing that she had finished.

"I left?"

Peyton nodded as she turned back to him.

"It was for the best Lucas. We wouldn't have worked out anyway" she lied.

Lucas was shaking his head "But I just left without talking to you?"

Once again, she nodded. They were both silent for a moment. Finally, Lucas spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Peyton turned sharply at his words. She had been waiting for this for the last four years. Only,when she had imagined it, Lucas had remembered what he had been apologizing for. She also realized that it was actually not something she wanted to hear.

"You don't have to apologize" she whispered.

'Yes I do." Lucas argued. "I may not be able to remember it, but I shouldn't have done what I did. I should have talked it through with you. I basically turned up out of the blue and ambushed you!"

Peyton had no reply. After all these years, it took a car accident and a heart attack for Lucas to see things from the other side. Peyton couldn't help but think of the irony.

She suddenly remembered something that would also help Lucas. She reached for her bag and pulled out a copy of his novel. Lucas was watching her every move.

"What's that?" he asked.

"This is a copy of the book you wrote when you were 18, about your life in High School." She handed it to him.

Lucas took it and to her surprise, began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" she wondered.

Lucas calmed down and looked at her. "Nothing, it's just that, when you were telling me about our life I though what a great book it would make."

Peyton's laughter followed his.

"I wrote a novel?" he asked.

"Yes. Wrote and published a very successful novel." She added.

"It was always your dream to write if you couldn't play basketball. As well as coaching the ravens, you are a thriving author. You published this when you were 19 and from what I can tell, you well on your way to finishing your second."

"People like my work?" he said.

Peyton laughed. "Of course. And if I'm not mistaken, there are a lot of fan sites for you." She giggled at his blush.

Lucas looked down at the book in his hands then back up to the woman who had presented it.

"Read it. It may help you to remember and answer any other questions you have." She told him.

"Ok. But I still can't believe that I wrote this."

"Well you will after you have read it." She replied as she got up.

"Are you going?" Lucas couldn't keep the disappointment from his voice.

His reply was a quick nod from the curly-haired blond. "It would be best if you read the book alone, to allow you to absorb it all. I promise that I will be back later though." She desperately wanted to stay, but she knew that this was something Lucas needed to do by himself.

She leant down and applied a kiss to his cheek, surprising them both. As she made her way to the door, an unexpected and painful question floated to her ears.

"Are we still in love?"

Peyton felt tears in her eyes but refused to turn to face him.

"Read the book Lucas." She spoke softly. And with that, she left the room.

**There you have it. I'm sorry that I cheated and only summarized some parts of Peyton's story, but I felt as though she only needed to go into detail with the key parts of their relationship. I hope it didn't make your expectations fall flat! In the next chapter, Lucas is visited by a very unexpected person who tries to help him remember. **

**Please review with your thoughts! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Guys, many thanks for all the great reviews! You are totally awesome. I glad that you all seemed to like the last chapter; it was more popular than I expected!**

**Anyway, here's chapter 12!**

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With what little strength he had, Lucas pushed the book closed; a dull thud being the only noise to penetrate the room. His mind was racing, still absorbing what he had just finished reading. One sentence in particular kept playing in his mind.

_I was now and would always be, in love with Peyton Sawyer. _

He couldn't believe that he had written this book. Thinking about it, it was practically a love letter to the woman who had occupied the chair next to his bed just a few hours ago. It was full of raw emotion and honesty and told an epic love story. From what he had read, Lucas could tell that what he and Peyton had shared wasn't just love; it was far deeper than that. It was pure, beautiful and heartbreaking. He though of how lucky he was to have been able to find this kind of love with someone. Lucas longed more than ever to be able to remember. He needed to remember. It was all well and good to be told the facts of your life, but what Lucas had just read enforced the importance and necessity of getting his memory back. He made a promise to himself there and then that he would do whatever it took to get it back. Now way was he not going to remember. It simply wasn't an option.

He found himself excited at the prospect of Peyton's return. Whenever she was around he felt a familiar tug deep inside him and Peyton's account of their relationship, coupled with his novel, finally allowed him to understand why. She was his soul mate, the other half of him, at least that's what the old him had believed. But this version of him did too.

Lucas was broken out of his thoughts when he heard the door open suddenly. He looked up, hoping it was Peyton, but was only slightly disappointed to see Nathan, Haley and his mother.

He smiled in greeting as they entered the room.

"Hey Luke, how you feeling?" asked Haley as she sat down at his side.

"I'm ok" was Lucas' simple response. He then realized with a start that he had completely zoned out the last few hours.

"What time is it?" he asked

Nathan consulted his watch and stated "8:30"

Lucas nodded. _Wow time flies _he thought to himself.

Haley noticed the closed book on Lucas' lap and caught Nathan and Karen's eye. From the looks on their faces, they had spotted it too.

"Where's Peyton?" she asked casually.

"She left a few hours ago, I think she went to get some sleep" Lucas responded.

The others smiled when they heard the disappointment seep into his words. Of course, Haley knew where Peyton was, she was occupying the bed in her guest room, but she just wanted to see Lucas' response. Peyton had told them the basics of what happened between her and Lucas, but that wouldn't stop her from asking questions. Nathan seemed to have caught on to what she was going to do because he sent her a look that seemed to say

_You devious woman. _

Haley smirked at her husband and continued her line of questioning.

"Did you and Peyton talk?"

Her response was a small nod.

"And she explained everything to you?"

Again, her response was a nod.

She looked to Nathan who smirked at her. _Damit! _She thought. She didn't mean to snoop but she was dying to know what had happened between the two.

"So what did you talk about?"

"Stuff" came Lucas' basic reply.

She inwardly huffed in frustration and was about to continue her attack when the door open once again. She caught the hopeful look that appeared on Lucas' face, only to see it fall when Dr Morgan and Nurse Vi entered.

"Good morning Lucas" Said Dr Morgan

"Hey" greeted Lucas

"I'm sorry to intrude but we need to have a discussion about your leg." Dr Morgan said as he pulled a chair to Lucas' bedside.

The relaxed atmosphere in the room quickly became tense and Lucas felt his stomach drop. He had been so boosted up on painkillers he had completely forgotten about his leg.

"I've been looking at the x-rays and the only way to properly fix it is with surgery."

Lucas didn't like that answer at all. He felt a tug on his hand and looked up to see his mothers' worried face.

"Surgery?" she gasped

"Yes. It's a procedure we use when a bone has been shattered like Lucas' has. What we do is insert a pin along the bone to help support it and bring two smaller ones up out of the leg which are connected to a much thicker and heavier pin which will stay on the outside. The surgery should take around 3 hours." He explained.

_Wow, that sounds fun _Lucas thought sarcastically.

Everyone was so focused on the Dr's words that they hadn't noticed Peyton slip into the room, who was now also listening carefully.

"Why does the pin need to go on the outside of my leg?" asked Lucas

In response, Nurse Vi handed him a diagram of how it would work and Dr Morgan explained whilst pointing to each part.

"This part needs to go on the outside because we need to tighten it as the bone becomes stronger, so we can pull all the pieces together so they fuse."

Lucas, as well as the others, grimaced.

"Will it hurt?" Karen asked on her son's behalf.

Dr Morgan looked to Karen and aimed his response to Lucas.

"I'm not going to lie, it will be uncomfortable and cause you some pain, but we will give you plenty of painkillers." He assured.

"Is there another way? Can't you just put it in a cast or something?" Lucas pleaded. He really didn't want another operation.

Dr Morgan shook his head. "I'm sorry Lucas, but this is the only way to properly strengthen your leg so that it can support you. If you don't have this operation, it is doubtful that you will ever walk properly again."

Lucas and the others were dumbfounded.

"I know that this is a big deal but we need to do it as soon as possible to repair as much damage as we can. We would have done it sooner, but your body wasn't strong enough to cope with it."

"How soon?" asked Peyton, finally announcing her arrival to the others.

"Today. In a couple of hours to be precise" came the Dr's response.

Lucas closed his eyes. He really didn't want to hear that.

"Lucas?" prompted Dr Morgan.

Lucas slowly opened his eyes and surveyed the Doctor.

"Will you be doing the surgery?" he asked

Dr Morgan nodded. "Yes. And Nurse Vivian will be there too."

"That's right handsome" Vi said as she gave him a wink.

Lucas nodded. "Do what you have to do" he said in a defeated tone.

"Ok Lucas. We will come back and prep you for surgery in a bit. Are there any other questions you want to ask?"

"How long will I have the pin in for?" he asked.

"About 8-10 weeks."

"That long?" replied Nathan

Dr Morgan turned to him. "I'm afraid so. But it will help in the long term."

"And what happens when the pin is taken out?" questioned Nathan.

"Hopefully, we can get Lucas through a course of physiotherapy and then back on his feet. I'm afraid it's too soon to be absolutely sure what will happen." He turned to Lucas. "We shall be back in a bit ok Lucas?"

His reply was a nod as Lucas absorbed his words.

"Ok then." With that Dr Morgan left the room.

"It'll be ok handsome. I won't let anything happen to you" assured Vi as she gave his shoulder a small squeeze. With a wink thrown at Lucas, she too left the room, leaving a cold silence in her wake.

"You ok Lucas?" asked Haley

Lucas' stare was unfocused. When he didn't reply, Haley tried again. She reached forward to grasp his hand, startling him out of his trance. When his eyes met hers she repeated the question.

"Are you ok?"

Lucas looked blankly at her and nodded.

Karen took this opportunity to go after the Doctor to give him a mother's questioning session, allowing Peyton to take her spot beside Lucas' bed.

She leaned over, grabbing his remaining free hand.

"Hey, look at me." she spoke softly. Lucas' blue eyes refused to move.

She tugged at his hand, swallowing it with both of hers. "Lucas. Look at me"

Cautiously, Lucas trailed his gaze to her face.

"It's gonna be alright."

Lucas' eyes searched her face, desperately seeking the comfort she offered. He looked down at their hands. And let out a quite whisper. "I'm scared."

Lucas spoke so softly, Peyton had to strain to hear it.

"Of what?" she asked

Lucas hesitated before answering. "Of waking up and not remembering you guys again."

Upon hearing his words, Peyton's heart broke for him, as did Nathan and Haley's.

"Oh Lucas." She did the only thing she could think of and pulled him into a hug. Lucas wrapped his arms around her and reveled in her comfort. A moment later, he felt another person join in the hug shortly followed by another.

As they all embraced, he heard Nathan whisper "That won't happen again Luke." He spoke with so much conviction that Lucas had no choice but to believe him.

* * *

Two hours and many chats with the surgical team later, Lucas was being wheeled into surgery. They had just left behind his family, who had followed him as far as they were allowed to. He watched the lights speed by as he stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

"It's all gonna go fine Lucas. And when you wake up, make sure they all buy you lots of nice presents" joked Vi, causing Lucas to smile.

All too soon they had reached the operating theatre and were connecting him too all the necessary equipment.

"Ok Lucas, we are now going to give you the anesthetic. I want you to start counting backwards from ten." Asked Dr Morgan

Lucas did as instructed.

"Ten, nine" he began to feel very tired "eight, seven, six" his eyelids felt like lead "five,four…………." That's as far as he got before he drifted into sleep.

* * *

He felt like he was floating and he opened his eyes. He was no longer in the operating room, but an all white room. He looked down at himself and saw that he was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, he couldn't see any of the injuries he had sustained from the accident, nor could he feel any pain. In fact, he felt great.

"Hey Lucas" he whipped round at the sound of his name to see who had spoken. he gasped as his eyes landed on someone he had not expected to see.

"Oh my god……you're…." Lucas began, recognizing who they were from the pictures he had seen.

The person nodded and smiled. "Yes Lucas, I'm Keith."

**So how many of you saw that coming? Was it predictable? Sorry about all the discussion before hand but I needed to set it all up. Lucas surgery, if you understood what it was lol, is based on the operation my boyfriend had when he had a motorbike accident. They had to put this humongous pin inside and outside his leg which was tightened a little every day to help the pieces of bone fuse together (as explained in the story lol) hope you enjoyed it! **

**Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! How good was Monday's episode! I loved when Lucas punched Julian, and has anyone see the preview for episode 11? It looks awesome!**

**I just wanted to clear a little confusion that a few of you have had, regarding Lindsey's character. As I said in the first chapter, I haven't included her in the story. All that has happened in season 5 is the same except that her and Lucas' relationship is purely editor/writer. I didn't feel the need to include her in the story!**

**Any way, thanks for al the fantastic reviews and here is chapter 13!**

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"Keith" muttered Lucas in shock. He stared at the man his family had praised, the man he couldn't remember. He took in Keith's appearance, searching for any possibly memories. None came.

"When I said that we would see each other again, I didn't think that it would be this soon." chuckled Keith.

Lucas' shocked expression turned into a confused frown, causing Keith to sigh deeply.

"I'm sorry about what's happened to you Luke, I couldn't stop it, as much as I wanted to, but I managed to answer a couple of prayers to help you. That's why I'm here."

Lucas continued to stare at his uncle, hell his father, until he finally found the words to speak.

"Where am I?" he asked looking around

"Where do you think you are?" the older man asked.

Lucas' eyes went wide as he stuttered "Am I dead?"

Keith was quick to reassure the boy he thought of as his son "No, Luke, you're not dead."

Lucas looked visibly relieved. "Is this real? Or is it a dream?" he asked.

"Does it really matter?"

Lucas shook his head and looked into the man's eyes. "I can't remember you." He said painfully.

Keith felt his heart ache for the broken boy who stood before him. "I know. But I'm here to help."

Lucas looked up at him. "You're going to give me my memories back?" he said hopefully.

"Not exactly, were going to go on a little tour." Keith smiled at him as the brightness surrounding them began to fade away.

* * *

It took all of her self control not to run after Lucas as he was wheeled away, hospital rules be dammed. But she knew she couldn't. All she could do was wait, and she had done enough if that this past week to last her a lifetime. Peyton sighed as; once again, she sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair.

"As soon as Lucas gets out of this hospital, I am never letting him leave the house again" came the tired voice of Karen Roe. The others let out a laugh.

"Oh, I'm not joking. I'm going to lock him in. He will have his laptop and all his books and his playstation, you can all come and visit him of course. I can bring him food and if he wants to play basketball, I can have Andy make a small court in one of the rooms. He will have everything he needs." She stated

"What about fresh air?" Nathan teased, amused by her protectiveness, although he too felt the same.

Karen smiled and added "we can open a few windows."

Haley joined in, adding her own ideas to Karen's. "Yeah, and we extend the house and maybe add a library. That way he will never want to leave." She said proudly.

"Ok ladies, we better stop this before you go and hire the builders." Nathan chuckled.

The others smiled at him.

"Seriously though, when he does get out, I'm not going to let him out of my sight." Karen said sincerely.

"I will help you with that." Peyton added, smiling.

"Me too" added Haley.

Nathan shook his head

_Poor Luke _he thought. He won't even be able to sneeze without them knowing it. Though he sympathized with Lucas, he knew he would right alongside the girls, keeping a close eye on his brother.

* * *

As the brightness faded away, Lucas felt a slight pull and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he saw that he was standing outside a modest, cozy looking house in a sunny, pleasant street.

He turned to Keith "where are we?"

"I'm taking you on a tour of your life Luke. Starting with your childhood home." Said Keith with a smile.

"I live here?" he asked

"Yep. You and your mom moved in when you were about 6 months. You've lived here ever since. Come on, let's take a look around." He said as he led Lucas up to the porch.

He opened the door and walked inside, Lucas right behind him. As they walked into the kitchen, waves of familiarity washed over Lucas. He immediately felt at home, but couldn't for the life of him, recognise his surroundings.

Keith leant against the counter "So, this is obviously the kitchen" he stated, unnecessarily.

"Really? I thought it was the bathroom" Lucas responded sarcastically.

Keith chuckled "good to see that you didn't loose your sense of humor."

Instead of responding, Lucas moved slowly around the kitchen, taking in the setting. Keith simply watched. Spotting something he wanted to investigate further, Lucas moved over to fridge, looking at the photos scattered around its metal shell. He recognised most of the pictures occupants thanks to the collage that Jamie had made for him. He smiled, feeling the happiness that radiated from them.

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a picture that had obviously been drawn by a small child. It must be important as it took pride of place in the middle of the fridge door. He removed it from its position and studied it. There were four stick figures, three of which resembled adults and one, a little girl, all holding hands. Underneath the figures were the names _Mommy, Daddy, Luke and me_ written in sloppy scrawl. There was a little message written in the corner and Luke whispered it out loud.

"To the best big brother in the world, this is so you don't miss us too much while we are away, lots of love, Lily."

He smiled softly and traced the words with his finger, his movements mirroring the child's carefully written message.

"She's quite something isn't she?" spoke Keith proudly, smiling at his little girl's masterpiece.

"Yeah. I'm sorry that you never had the chance to meet her." Answered Lucas as he put the picture back.

"Don't be, I'm with her everyday. As well as you and your mother."

He put his hand on Lucas' shoulder and led him out of the kitchen. They stopped outside a door in the middle of the hallway. Keith gently pushed it open.

"Welcome to your room Luke."

Lucas stepped over the threshold as he studied the room. He could instantly tell that it was his, just by the feeling he got as he entered. If that wasn't enough, the basketball and the large collection of books gave it away.

He moved slowly around the room, taking many mental pictures, which he stored away. The room suited him to a tee. It matched his character he mused. He moved over to his collection of CDs, on a self in the corner, and casually began to browse through them. After doing this, he moved over to his book collection and let out a soft whistle at the large amount he had.

"You always loved reading. I'm glad that you have followed your passion in your own writing." Keith stated.

Lucas gave a small smile. "I still can't believe I'm an author"

"I can. And I'm proud of you for it" replied Keith

Lucas smiled at the praise. Although he couldn't remember the man standing next to him, he was glad that he hadn't disappointed him.

"Thanks."

Keith nodded. "So what do you think of your room?" he asked.

"It's very………me" Lucas ended.

Keith let out a chuckle. "That it is. You ready to go; we have many other places to see."

Lucas put down the book he was holding. "Yeah, lead the way, oh spirit guide of mine."

Keith let out a laugh and wrapped his arm around Lucas' shoulders.

"You can be a little strange at times" he smiled.

"Look who's talking Mr.-I-died-but-have-come-back-to-show-me-around-my-old-town- guy." Lucas said in a long breath.

Once again Keith laughed. "I guess it runs in the family" he said as he steered them out the door.

* * *

An hour had passed in the waiting room. At some point, Nathan had found a pack of old cards and was pathetically attempting to build a very wobbly card tower. After it fell down for the 10th time, he huffed loudly, causing the girls to laugh at his expression.

"I'd like to see you try and do a better one!" he pouted. "Lucas always makes it look so easy!"

"Well, for a start, he uses a decent pack of cards and second, he doesn't try and use the whole pack for the bottom row" laughed Haley.

"Yeah well….......I don't care any way" he finished lamely, pushing the cards away from him.

Peyton laughed "you sound like a two year old"

Nathan stuck his tongue out in response.

"Well that just proved me wrong" Peyton replied, shifting in her chair.

It was just the three of them in the room. Karen had left a few minutes ago to go and check in with the others.

"I feel like we have been here forever" Nathan moaned.

"Its only been an hour. We have at least two to go." Haley informed him.

Nathan let out another huff and pulled the cards back to him, casing Haley and Peyton to laugh.

"Guess I got plenty of time to practice" he said as he started on the first tier, determined to prove the girls wrong.

**I know I didn't show lots of Lucas and Keith, but I didn't want to cram in all into one chapter and rush it. I also wanted to add the other characters in as well, to show what they are doing. Thanks for reading! Please review you great people!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update but a little thing called life has been getting in the way! I know you are probably getting really tired of me saying this but thanks for all the fantastic reviews! The story is much more popular than I ever thought it would be and I'm glad that you are all enjoying it! Here is chapter 14! Enjoy!**

* * *

"So, where are we going now?" Lucas asked as he and Keith leisurely made their way down the street.

"Just another place I want to show you. Somewhere you have spent a lot of time at." Keith told him vaguely.

"Well thanks for giving me such an informative answer" Lucas mumbled sarcastically.

Keith just laughed "even if I did tell you would you remember?" he queried.

Lucas sent him a glare in response, causing Keith to laugh again.

They walked in comfortable silence along the streets of Tree Hill. Lucas admired how peaceful and homely the town was. It was a picturesque little place he mused to himself and could see why he still lived here instead of moving else where.

"Its nice here" he stated into the silence.

Keith smiled "It really is." He said as he too admired the beauty of the little town.

After another 10 minutes of walking, Lucas noticed they had moved away from the main centre of the town. Keith stopped and Lucas turned to look at him with a questioning glace.

"Welcome to the river court Luke" Keith announced.

Lucas didn't reply. He simply looked around, taking in his surroundings. He looked at the old basketball hoops that stood proudly on both sides of the court and then at the river that ran alongside it. He moved towards the faded blacktop and walked slowly upon it. Much like at his home, a wave of familiarity washed over him. As he walked, he spotted the writing that marred the middle of the court. He stood over it and read the names. He found his own amongst his friends.

"You did that a couple of days after you graduated, before you all went your separate ways" Keith informed him.

Lucas simply nodded. He turned around on the spot, absorbing the tranquil atmosphere.

"When you were little, you found this court along with Skills, Fergie, Mouth, Junk and Jimmy. You were so excited to tell me and your mom about it. You came here every day to play ball with the guys. We couldn't drag you away. It's been your sanctuary ever since. Whenever you had problems or worries, you came out here by yourself and just played away all your troubles."

Lucas looked up at him as he listened.

"If ever we couldn't find you, we always looked here first, and 9 times out of 10 you would be here. This was your world growing up Luke."

Lucas once again looked around the court and spotted a basketball under the bench. He smiled and went to grab it. He walked back to Keith wearing a cheeky smile.

"Fancy a quick game?" he grinned

Keith laughed "Absolutely. But just to warn you, I'm a kick ass player!"

Their laughter filled the air as the two men began to shoot around.

* * *

"Nathan I think you should just give up now" said Peyton in the kindest voice she could muster.

Another hour had passed in the waiting room and once again, Nathan had failed to build his card tower and was becoming increasingly angry by his lack of skill.

"This is so annoying! I want to stop but I can't!" he cried.

"Nathan," Haley said seriously as she grabbed his hand "Honey, I think you're an addict."

As soon as she said this she, Karen and Peyton burst out laughing. Nathan however, was not amused.

"You guys are so mean" he said.

"Who's so mean?" came the voice of Brooke Davis and she flounced into the room, followed by Skills, Jamie, Lily and Andy.

"What are you all doing here?" Karen asked as she took Lily from Andy's arms.

"The kids were desperate to come and kept nagging us" replied Brooke.

Seeing the filthy looks that Jamie and Lily shot at her Nathan asked "the kids or you?"

Brooke glared at him and was about to answer when Lily beat her to it.

"It was Brooke. But me and Jamie wanted to come to."

Everyone turned to look at Brooke, who was quick to defend herself.

"Hey you should be thankful that I restrained myself for so long! And I wanted to see Broody!"

The others chuckled at her.

"Mommy look, I drew Lukie a picture" stated Lily, proudly showing it to her mother.

"Yeah she spent ages doing it didn't you munchkin?" said Andy and he patted her head.

"It's lovely Lily, your brother will love it." Karen praised studying the picture her daughter had drawn.

"Any word from the doctor yet?" Andy asked as everyone seated themselves around the room.

Karen sighed heavily. "No. we still have at least an hour to go."

Andy nodded as the rest of the rooms occupants lapsed into gentle conversation and Skills went over to attempt to help Nathan with his card tower.

"Move over, let me show you how a brother does it dawg" Skills said, pushing him out of the way, ignoring Nathan's indignant scream.

* * *

"Ok. Time out. You win" breathed Keith heavily.

"I didn't think spirits got out of breath." commented Lucas.

"Watch it." Keith smiled. He looked around the court before speaking to Lucas once again.

"So how do like this place?"

"It's great. I feel at home here." Lucas reflected

"Well, take one last look around, because we have a few more places to go and not a lot of time to do it."

"Where are we going now?" Lucas asked.

"Let me show you" said Keith as he placed his hand on Lucas' shoulder. Once again, Lucas felt the tug against him and instinctively closed his eyes. When the sensation had passed, he opened them.

He was met with the sight of another house. Only this one was a little bigger than his own, with a large white door. He looked at Keith, who only smiled.

"You going to tell me where we are?" he asked.

"Nope."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Did I mention how annoying you can be?"

Keith chuckled "Probably. Go in, take a look around."

Lucas looked hesitantly at the house, half expecting someone to come out. At Keith's encouraging nod, he walked up to the front door and slowly opened it. As he walked inside, he had an overwhelming urge to go upstairs. Keith seemed to notice this and spoke.

"Follow your heart Luke. It's led you in the right direction before."

Lucas did just that and headed quickly up the stairs. The door at the end of the corridor was like a beacon drawing him in. he stood by it and rested his hand on the doorknob. The feeling he was getting was overwhelming. The same one he had been having since he woke up in this dream. The feeling you get when you see something that looks familiar but can't remember where the hell you have seen it before. Slowly, Lucas turned the doorknob and pushed open the door.

He looked at the deep red walls and the artwork that was littered across them, and towards the endless collection of music, displayed proudly on their shelves. Although he couldn't remember where he was, he knew exactly who the room belonged to.

"Peyton" he whispered.

Behind him, Keith let out a soft smile.

"Why am I not surprised that even with amnesia, Peyton's room would be the one you recognise?"

Lucas let out a soft chuckle, his eyes never leaving the artwork on the walls. He couldn't help but smile when he thought of the green-eyed blonde. He turned to look at Keith, who was in turn, staring at him.

"So why did you bring me here?" Lucas asked.

"You kiddin me? if you weren't at the rivercourt or at home, you were with peyton. even when you weren't going out." Keith laughed.

Lucas shook his head as he moved around the room. He opened the door to her closet and wasn't surprised to see that it was filled with more albums instead of clothes. He noticed the record player in the corner and couldn't resist putting one on. He grabbed the nearest one and carefully placed it on the deck. he smiled as the first strains of Jose Gonzalez "heartbeats" filled the room. He grinned softly, it was just so Peyton. He turned, looking out of the closet. It was then he noticed the carving in the door. He moved towards it, running his finger over the initials.

"Lucas and Peyton, TLA" he spoke.

Keith nodded, "TLA means....."

"True Love Always" Lucas finished, shocking both himself and Keith.

"How did you know that?" Keith asked.

"I have no idea. It just came to me." Lucas paused for a moment, admiring the carved words, before speaking once again "does Peyton still live here?"

"No, her Dad sold the house when she moved to LA. And speaking of LA, that was a pretty jackass move you pulled out there." Keith scolded.

"I know" Lucas sighed "I still can't believe that I did that."

"Well this is long over due" Keith said as he slapped Lucas upside the head.

"Ow! Jeez, what was that for?" he complained as he rubbed his head.

"For being a first class idiot. And because I have been waiting to do that since I saw what happened."

"You can't punish me for something I don't remember!"

"I just did." Keith smirked.

"I would take it back if I could." Lucas said.

"I know Luke. But never let your pride stand in the way of what you want most. If you do that, you will turn into someone like Dan."

Lucas scowled at the mention of the man, seeing this Keith continued.

"I didn't mean to make you upset, I just wanted you to understand. I hope you get another chance to correct what happened."

Lucas nodded "me too."

He looked up and noticed that Keith's expression had turned somber.

"What's the matter?" Lucas asked.

"It's time to go" Keith replied.

"Where are we going now?"

"No, Luke. Time for us to say goodbye." Keith clarified.

Lucas' heart dropped. He knew that he didn't remember the man standing before him, but he felt so comfortable in his presence, so at ease. He didn't want to say goodbye so soon.

"No" he protested.

Keith let out a sad smile. "Sorry Luke, but it's the rules. I don't want to go either but I have to."

"But, I've only just gotten to know you."

"I know. But its time."

Lucas moved forward and embraced him. He really wanted to stay with Keith just a little bit longer. Keith hugged him back.

"I know that I can't remember you, but from what I've been told, and from what I've seen, I want you to know something." Lucas pulled back, keeping his arms on Keith's shoulders.

"You are my father, in every sense of the word. And I'm proud to be your son." He finished.

Tears sprang to Keith's eyes as he absorbed Lucas' words. He pulled him back for another hug.

"And you have always been my son, since the minute you were born. I'm the one who's proud."

Both men chocked back tears as they pulled apart.

"Who knew Scott men could be such girls" Keith joked.

Lucas laughed. "Just don't tell Nathan."

They became quite for a moment before Lucas spoke.

"Will I be able to remember when I wake up?"

"That's up to you Luke. But I promise you that you will. Whether it's when you wake up, or a few weeks later, you shall remember. You don't know what its like to fail, you never have." Keith smiled at him. "I'm proud of you son, and I love you."

Lucas immediately responded. "I love you too…………..Dad."

"Take care of your mom and sister for me. Tell them I love them both."

"I promise I will" Lucas replied.

The last thing he saw was Keith's warm, happy face, before he was pulled away.

The face of Keith morphed into the face of Nurse Vi and Lucas felt like hell. Vi , seeing that he was awake, smiled over at him.

"Well hello handsome, welcome back." She winked.

**This chapter was really hard to write. I was gonna continue into another chapter, but thought that you might get a little bored of the same thing. I hope you don't feel like I've rushed through it! Getting everything to fit in takes a lot of effort lol. I hope you all think that the chapter was ok and I'm sorry for making you wait for it! Plus I had to add the mushy bit at the end because it's a scene I always wanted to see on the show! **

**Please review and let me know how much you liked/hated it!**


	15. Chapter 15

**OMG! How good was Monday's episode?! I loved it! Anyway, thanks, as usual for all your reviews, they are really kind and thoughtful! Here's chapter 15!**

* * *

"What's taking so long? Dr Morgan should have been out by now!" Peyton huffed.

"Relax baby girl, he will be out soon" said Skills from the corner where he and Nathan were still attempting to build a card tower.

"Yeah Peyton. The Dr will be out when he has made Lukie better." Lily stated innocently but firmly.

The others all laughed at her demanding tone. Nathan turned to look at her and his mouth dropped open with what he saw.

"How did you do that?!" he practically yelled, seeing that the four year old had built a perfect card tower in a matter of minutes.

Lily shrugged, like it was no big deal before replying "Luke taught me"

Everyone took great amusement from the expression of disbelief on Nathan's face. "He never taught me."

"That's because he likes me better" Lily stated proudly.

"He does not" replied Nathan

"Does too" Lily crossed her arms and looked at him.

"Does not" Nathan mirrored her actions.

Everyone burst out laughing at the childish antics.

"Nathan, remember who's the four year old" Brooke said as she watched him pout.

Lily stared at him for a moment before speaking. "Ok he likes us both the same" she sighed. "Ok?"

"Ok" responded Nathan.

Just as Jamie was about to join in the conversation, Karen spotted Dr Morgan coming towards the waiting room, causing her to jump up from her seat. The others, seeing this, copied her movements.

"How is he? Did it go ok?" Karen asked.

"The surgery was a success. Everything went very smoothly, we were able to place the pin in effectively, Lucas did great. No complications at all."

Everyone let out the breath they were holding.

"Is he awake yet?" Peyton asked.

"He was just waking up when I left him in recovery. He was very groggy and no doubt in some pain. His leg will be very uncomfortable for him, but we have him on a course of painkillers to help."

"When can we go and see him?" Peyton said

"When he comes out of recovery and is moved back to the ICU, family members" he began eyeing Brooke and Skills who glared back "will be allowed in to see him."

"Well we are all family" stated Brooke firmly.

"Really?" said Dr Morgan, disbelievingly

"Uh-huh. I'm Lucas' sister and this is his cousin" she said pointing to Skills.

"Right" Dr Morgan replied unconvinced.

"What, a brother can't be related to Lucas?" asked Skills.

"But Brooke, I'm Luke's sister, not you" said Lily innocently.

Dr Morgan laughed. "I may allow you to come and see him if he is feeling up to it, but I make no promises."

"Thank you Dr Morgan" said Karen gratefully.

"You're welcome. I will be back in a little while to let you know when Lucas has been moved into the ICU." Dr Morgan turned, leaving the extended family in the waiting room.

* * *

Lucas groaned as he moved his head from side to side. It felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool. Not to motion his leg felt like it was on fire.

"How ya feelin tough guy?" Nurse Vi inquired.

"Like utter shit" Lucas rasped causing the older woman to laugh.

"It will take a while for the anesthetic to wear off, but try to rest. You can see your family soon" she assured him.

Lucas closed his eyes replaying the dream, or whatever the hell it was, over in his head.

_Well, my memory is still gone _thought Lucas bitterly. Part of him wished to go back to the dream. Back where there was no pain and no one to disappoint. He was more than a little annoyed that his memory hadn't come back. He had been naïve in thinking it would just pop back into his head while he was asleep. He was broken from his thoughts when he heard the voice of Dr Morgan.

"Hey Lucas. How are you feeling?" Dr Morgan said, repeating Vi's earlier question.

"I've been better. My leg hurts like hell" he admitted.

"Well I would be very concerned if it didn't" Dr Morgan joked. "I am happy to tell you that the operation was a success."

"It had better be, with the amount of pain I am in"

Dr Morgan chuckled. "We have you on a course or painkillers to help. We were able to insert the pin in the correct position without any complications. We will begin to tighten it from tomorrow on wards, it's still a little too tender to begin today, and hopefully, in around 6-8 weeks we will be able to remove it"

Lucas looked at his leg for the first time since waking up. It wasn't a very nice thing to see sticking out of it. The pin looked, in his opinion, horribly ugly. It also looked very heavy. As if he knew what Lucas was thinking, Dr Morgan spoke once again.

"I know it's not nice to look at, but remember that it is there to help. I would advise that you don't move your leg, keep it as still as you can."

Lucas nodded in confirmation at the Dr's words. He felt himself becoming drowsy and soon succumbed to sleep.

* * *

"Will you keep it down, your going to wake him up!"

This was the first thing that Lucas registered when he was pulled from sleep. The second thing was the amount of pain coming from his leg. He let out a painful groan, alerting the others of his return to the conscious world. He heard a scuffle and slowly opened his eyes. He was met with the sigh of Peyton, Nathan, Karen and Haley, all wearing the same expression of worry.

"Hey Luke!" greeted Haley enthusiastically, "how are you feeling?"

Lucas just mumbled in response as he tried to wake himself up. He moved slightly on the bed but the sharp stab of pain instantly made him regret it. He failed to stop the wince of pain that passed across his face.

"Lucas, honey, are you in pain? Do you want me to get the nurse?" came the gentle voice of his mother. Lucas nodded in response as his mother pushed the call button.

"So," began Nathan smiling, "Nice piercing"

Lucas gave him a withering look, causing his brother to chuckle.

"I'm serious man, it's really gonna catch on" Nathan smirked.

"You're enjoying this far too much." Lucas rasped tiredly.

Deciding to defend Lucas, Peyton spoke up "you know, Nathan has had real trouble building a card tower. He spent three hours trying to do it, but failed miserably."

"Is that so" said Lucas, looking at Nathan who was glaring at Peyton.

"Yep. And he was beaten by a four year old, who did it in a matter of minutes."

Lucas scoffed. Nathan was just about to reply, when Vi bustled into the room.

"How's my favorite patient?" she asked.

"In a little pain" Lucas admitted.

"Well I have just the thing for that" she said holding up a needle which she promptly injected into his IV.

"It should kick in soon." She turned to address the others "Speaking of kicking, I've got to kick you lot out. This boy needs his rest"

The others nodded and all got up to say their goodbyes to an exhausted Lucas.

"See you later Luke" said Haley as she hugged him.

Karen followed, kissing his forehead. "Get some sleepy honey" Lucas nodded tiredly.

"See ya bro" said Nathan as he too, gave Lucas a hug.

Just like before, Peyton was the last one to say goodbye, but this time, there was no hesitancy in her hug.

"Bye Peyton"

She pulled back from the hug. "I'll be seeing you" she whispered, as she moved to join the others at the door.

As the words left her mouth, a million things blurred through Lucas' head.

_Him and Peyton at the Rivercourt after his one on one against Nathan _

_Playing golf on the roof of the café with Haley_

_Helping Keith with the cars at the garage_

_Towing away Peyton's car at the side of the river_

_Being locked in the library with Peyton during the school shooting, her saying goodbye_

_Keith's funeral _

_Helping his Mom at the cafe_

_Messing around with Nathan and the guys at the rivercourt_

_Holding Lily just moments after she was born_

_Winning the State Championship and hearing Peyton say the same phrase "I'll be seeing you"_

_Having a cookie dough fight with Peyton in her kitchen_

_Meeting his nephew for the first time_

_Going off to College with Nathan, Haley and Jamie_

_Getting the call telling him that his book was going to be published_

_His botched proposal to Peyton_

Lucas literally watched his life pass before his eyes as all his memories slapped him in the face at once. His breath caught in his throat and upon hearing this, the others turned from the door.

"What's the matter Lucas?" asked Peyton as she moved towards him.

Lucas looked up into her piercing green eyes. Peyton saw the recognition in his eyes and felt hope surge trough her.

"I remember" came his response.

**Lucas got his memory back! But the story hasn't finished yet!**

**Please review! **


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey everyone! Some great responses to the last chapter! I am really glad that so many of you are enjoying the story. I just wanted to mention that even though Lucas has his memory back, the story is far from over! Sorry if this disappoints you! Anyway, on with chapter 16!**

* * *

"I remember" came Lucas' quite voice.

Peyton cautiously approached his bedside, hardly daring to believe it. The others seemed to be frozen in shock at the doorway.

"What?" she whispered, as though speaking loud would somehow destroy what she was hearing.

Lucas slowly looked into Peyton's eyes and repeated his words. "I remember."

Looking deeply into his eyes, Peyton knew he was speaking the truth. She saw the recognition and softness that his eyes always held. She knew she was looking into the real Lucas' eyes. She felt a wave of emotion wash over her, most of which was relief and happiness. Before she could stop herself, she had launched into his arms and was clinging desperately to him as if he would disappear if she let him go. She fought to hold back the tears that were gathering in her eyes.

"Your back" she whispered happily.

Lucas was a little taken back by her response, but cradled her in his arms, hoping to give her the comfort she needed. When she pulled back from the hug she bowed her head.

"sorry" she said sheepishly. Lucas just sent a small smile back at her.

By now Nathan, Haley and Karen had broken from their trance and raced toward him. Karen was the first to reach him.

"Lucas!Oh my baby boy!" she cried as she clung to him. Lucas hugged her back just as tightly.

"Hey Ma" he responded, causing her to cry harder. Only her Lucas would call her that. Her boy was back, and she was so happy.

She moved back and studied his face as she ran her hand over his hair. She smiled brightly at him and Lucas copied her actions.

"I can't wait any longer!" yelled Haley as she practically flew to Lucas' side, who soon found Haley's arms wrapped round his neck. The others let out a soft laugh.

"How you doing Hales?" he asked as he returned her embrace. Hearing the nickname come from her best friend, Haley finally released the tears she had been keeping in.

"Your seriously asking me that? When you are the one in the hospital bed?" she laughed. She stared at him before answering his question. "I'm great now Luke" she beamed.

She moved to the side, next to Peyton, as Nathan made his way to his brother. They just stared at each other, Nathan searching Lucas' face to make sure it was really him.

"Hey Nate." Lucas first spoke. Nathan didn't reply, he just kept staring, causing Lucas to get a little worried. Finally, Nathan spoke.

"Do you know how much of an idiot you are?" he asked.

Lucas looked nervous for a second until he spotted the smile that spread across Nathan's face. He moved closer to the bed and gave Lucas a hug.

"Don't ever go pulling a stunt like that again otherwise we will all kill you."

Lucas laughed "I promise" glad that his brother wasn't mad at him.

Nathan stood up and knocked his fist against Lucas'.

"I'm glad you're back man" he spoke.

"Me too." Replied Lucas.

The others seated themselves around his bed, Peyton and Karen each sitting closest to him, and sighed in relief. All were wearing goofy smiles.

"So, you remember everything?" asked Haley.

Lucas nodded "everything, including what happened when I first woke up. Its like I was inside my body but couldn't get out."

"Lucas. What happened to cause the accident?" Karen asked cautiously. She knew little details of what happened but wanted to hear Lucas' story.

Lucas though for a moment before answering.

"I remember being at home. I was writing and lost track of time. When I finally realised what time it was, Haley had left several messages on my phone and I knew I was in for it" he smiled. "I jumped into the car and left. I didn't go fast. When I pulled away from the lights next to the park, a little girl ran out into the road so I swerved to miss her" he looked upset for a moment before frantically asking "I did miss her didn't I?"

The others were quick to reassure him.

"She's fine Luke. You missed her" answered Peyton as she grasped his hand

Lucas visibly relaxed and gave her hand a small squeeze before continuing.

"Anyway, as I swerved, I must have lost control of the car because I was in the other side of the road. The last thing I remember seeing was this huge truck before everything went dark." he finished.

The others took in his words before Karen spoke.

"Well you are never going near a car again."

Lucas laughed before his expression turned into one of despair.

"Is the car ok?" he asked.

"Unbelievable! You almost die and your main concern is for the car!" Nathan chuckled.

Haley understood Lucas' sadness and leaned over to grab his remaining hand.

"I'm sure Keith would be more concerned that you are ok, not the car. A car can be replaced, you can't" she stated seriously.

At the mention of the name, Lucas looked up.

"Keith" he murmured "I saw him" he whispered.

The others looked shocked for a moment and seeing this, Lucas continued.

"it was during the operation on my leg. He was there and he took me on a tour of Tree Hill, to try and help me remember."

After Lucas' admission of the similar circumstances in senior year that helped him reveal the truth about Dan, no one doubted him. Lucas turned and looked at Karen.

"He sends you and Lily his love"

Karen smiled warmly at her son as she felt tears spring to her eyes once more. She didn't say anything, no words were needed.

"So, how's your leg feeling Luke?" asked Nathan trying to steer them away from any upset.

"Like crap. This better be worth it" he joked.

"Oh!" Haley gasped suddenly, "Someone needs to let Dr Morgan know that you have your memory back!" she said as she practically ran out the room. leaving laughter in her wake.

* * *

After a thorough examination by Dr Morgan, the group sat around the hospital room reminiscing. Nathan was particularly delighted when Lucas taught him how to build a proper card tower.

"Yes!" he cried triumphantly, "Wait until Lily sees this!"

Lucas just laughed at his brothers foolish antics, and fought back a yawn, but failed.

"Ok. I think that its time we let you get some sleep" said Karen in a mothering tone.

"Yep, and we need to tell the others what's happened" agreed Haley.

After the group had said their goodbyes, they headed to the door.

"Peyton? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Lucas asked the curly haired blonde.

Peyton tried not to look too happy and smiled a little as she responded

"Sure Lucas."

The others, sensing that this was a private moment, made their way out of the room.

Peyton sat down in the chair at Lucas' bedside. They were silent for a moment, but it wasn't uncomfortable. They were long past awkward silences.

"Fiancé huh?" Lucas spoke at length.

Peyton cautiously met his gaze, knowing that the fiancé issue was a sore subject. She was surprised to be met with a small smile as she knew how sensitive Lucas was about the subject.

"Sorry, it was the only way they would let me see you. Besides, Nathan started it." She defended.

"Its ok. I was just a little surprised when nurse Vi told me that my fiancé had hardly left my bedside." He chuckled. He was actually ok with it, although he didn't know why.

_Maybe this accident has taught me not to be so petty_ he mused. He chuckled slighty.

Peyton joined in his mirth before the conversation took a more serious turn.

"Thank you" Lucas said sincerely.

Peyton's brow creased in confusion. "For what?"

"For helping me, with my memory, for being patient. You didn't have to do that." He replied.

"I wanted to" she stated fiercely.

Lucas nodded. They once again lapsed into silence and Peyton remembered their last meeting before the accident, where they also, as she had put it, made pointless small talk to avoid talking about the real issue. She desperately wanted to ask him if he still agreed that his actions in LA were wrong, like he admitted they were not long after his accident but she didn't want to force him into a conversation. The last thing she wanted was to cause him stress and to close him up.

"Lucas…." She began

He looked up at her, but she couldn't find the words she needed. Lucas seemed to sense this.

"It's ok Peyton. We have loads of time to discuss everything." He said.

Peyton nodded and took his words as a dismissal and rose from the chair.

"Right. Well I will let you get some rest, its getting late" she hurriedly said as she made her way to the door.

"Peyton" Lucas' forceful voice spoke.

She turned to face him, unsure of why he was calling her back.

"Can you……erm could you stay?" he asked like a small child. "Please. I just, I need someone….you... just to stay with me."

She immediately picked up on the fear in his voice, the unspoken words. He needed some familiarity around him, he needed that comfort. She was only to glad to provide it.

"Absolutely" she responded, once again seating herself in the chair. She smiled when Lucas took her hand in his. It may take a while, but they would get there in the end.

**Chapter 16 folks! Let me know what you think, please leave a review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I have been so touched by all the great reviews I have received. I never though that a little idea that popped into my head would gain so much interest! You guys are the best! Here is chapter 17! Enjoy!**

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Several hours had passed since Lucas had asked Peyton to stay and she had fallen into a peaceful slumber, curled up in the chair. Lucas wasn't so lucky. As hard as he tried, he couldn't fall asleep. There was too much going on in his head, as well as the pain in his leg that was stopping him from getting any rest. He sighed deeply. He knew that he could call in Vi to give him some painkillers but he didn't want to become dependant upon them plus the pain was the thing helping him to stay awake.

Lucas knew that he was being childish but if he was honest with himself, he was too scared to go to sleep, scared that if he did, he would once again wake up without his memory. He knew he was being stupid, that he would still remember when he woke up, but a large part of him refused to believe it.

He shifted his weight slightly in an attempt to make himself more comfortable. He looked at the clock which read 3:17 am. This was going to be a long night. His gaze slowly drifted to the woman asleep in the chair. He was glad that she had agreed to stay, he needed someone with him. Even though she was asleep, Lucas was still relieved that he had some company. He took in her appearance. Even in sleep, with her hair in disarray, she was still the most beautiful thing in the world to him. He admired her for staying with him in the hospital, for being strong and staying by his side. He didn't know what he would have done if he was in her position, knowing that she didn't remember him.

His eyes travelled across her face, absorbing her. His mind drifted back to the last conversation or rather, argument, he had had with her before the accident. Hearing her say that she still loved him made Lucas rejoice on the inside. However, he once again let his stupid pride get in the way. Peyton had bared her soul to him, something that was hard for her to do, and he had just walked out, leaving her alone in her office. He was such an ass. He didn't know why it was so hard for him to admit his true feelings for her. After the confrontation in her office, Lucas had gone to the nearest bar (that wasn't Tric) and drank his sorrows away, which wasn't the best way to deal with it. Walking out on her seemed to be becoming a regular occurrence with him. One that he didn't like.

_I am such a dick _he thought to himself.

Why Peyton stayed with him in the hospital, he didn't know. He knew he certainly didn't deserve it after all he had done to her. He sighed once again and ran a hand over his face as Keith's voice drifted through his head

_Never let your pride stand in the way of what you want most._

_What do I want most? _He said to himself. The answer came to him right away. _I want Peyton_

Keith's words acted as a wake up call for the blonde man. He needed to tell Peyton how he really felt. He needed to spend the rest of his life making it all up to her. Whether it was as her husband or boyfriend, it didn't matter. He was determined to be the man that Keith taught him to be. he rufused to be like Dan. He wasn't going to let his pride stand in the way this time. He would beg if he had to.

He fixed his determined gaze upon the woman he loved. He wasn't going to wake her, not when she looked so peaceful. He would tell her when the time was right. He decided that for now, he would let her sleep.

* * *

"So he definitely remembers everything and everyone?" asked Brooke excitedly.

"Yes. Just like that he got his memory back! Although I think that Peyton's words acted as a trigger." Replied Haley, just as excited as the others were. In order to celebrate the return of Lucas' memory, they had cracked open a couple of bottles of wine.

"I feel guilty celebrating without Luke here" said Nathan

"No need to worry, we can have a party for him when he gets out of hospital and he can have a drink then to celebrate" said Brooke cheerily.

"He wont be able to drink for a while Brooke. Not with all the medication he is on." Informed Haley.

"Well that sucks. We can still throw him a party though can't we?" Brooke pleaded.

The others laughed at her expression.

"Sure Brooke. We can have it here if you want.

"That will be great!" said Brooke happily

"I'm sure that Lucas will love it" smiled Karen.

"I'm just glad that my boy is good" nodded Skills.

The last few weeks had been hard on everyone without having Lucas around, making them all realise how much they needed him in their lives.

"Has Peyton come back yet?" Nathan asked his wife.

"No she hasn't. I'm not really expecting her to. You wouldn't even be able to drag her away from that hospital" Haley chuckled.

"I so hope that they get back together. That would make my year!" Brooke said as she clapped her hands happily. She still acted as though she was still in High School sometimes, much to the amusement of her friends.

Noticing the time, the close group decided it was time to call it a night and made their way to their respective bedrooms. Since Lucas' accident, the Naley house had become a hotel with everyone that was staying there. But the couple didn't seem to mind much, especially Jaime, who loved having everyone at his beck and call.

As everyone drifted off to sleep, the house became peacefully quite as the occupants dreamed of what was to come the next day.

* * *

Peyton woke up to the feeling of a horrible stiffness in her neck and back.

_That's what you get for sleeping in a crappy chair _she reprimanded herself as she stretched. When she opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of Lucas staring back at her and she let out a mental sigh of relief that the events that had happened yesterday hadn't been a dream. She sent him a small smile which was quickly returned by the man in the bed.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked, her voice a little hoarse from sleep.

Lucas looked away as he answered "Not too long. I woke up just before you did."

Peyton knew that he wasn't being totally honest and she could tell just by looking at him that he hadn't had much rest during the night. She opened her mouth to question him but was interrupted when the door opened, revealing Dr Morgan and Nurse Vi.

"Morning handsome. How are you feelin today?" she asked with a wink

"Not too bad" Lucas answered.

"That's good to hear Lucas" said Dr Morgan. "Now, you're not going to like me for this, but I'm here to tighten you pin"

Lucas looked worried for a second and seeing this, Peyton took his hand, for which he was grateful.

"I'm not going to tighten it too much ok?" Dr Morgan said.

"On a scale of one to ten, how much is this going to hurt?" Lucas joked.

"I'm afraid it's going to be fairly painful, but Vi is going to give you some painkillers to help with it" the Dr assured.

Lucas just nodded as Vi injected some morphine into his IV.

"Don't you worry handsome. When this is over, I may sneak you in some pudding as a reward" she smiled at him.

Lucas slowly returned the smile and grabbed Peyton's hand a little tighter as Dr Morgan and Vi prepared to tighten the pin. Seeing his distress, Peyton tried to take his mind off it.

"I was talking to Nathan the other day and he said that when you get out of here he is going to take you to see the Nicks play. Sounds good huh?"

Lucas smiled at her, thankful that she was trying to distract him. This however was short lived at he heard Dr Morgan's warning that they were about to start. The next thing he knew, he had this unbelievable pain pulsing through his leg as the pin was slowly tightened. He closed his eyes, as his grip on Peyton's hand turned to that of a vice. If he was hurting her, she didn't let it show. Instead she brushed a hand through his hair and continued talking.

"Yeah, Nathan was saying how you could make a weekend of it. He's gonna get courtside tickets so you wont miss any of the action and said something about hitting all the local sports bars before hand. Sounds like it will be a lot of fun."

Lucas focused on her words and was soothed by her hand running through his hair. He didn't reply, and Peyton seemed fine with this as she continued talking, hoping that the sound of her voice would calm him.

"He wants to drive up there, have a mini road trip. His main plan is to watch the game and get you and him totally wasted" she smiled when she saw a small grin appear on Lucas' face.

"Ok Lucas, we're done. You did great" said Dr Morgan stated.

Lucas let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and slowly opened his eyes. Peyton's hand was still running through his hair and he mad no move to stop her.

He sent her a grateful smile and then turned to face Vi. He glared at her for a moment before saying

"That pudding better be chocolate"

This caused the others to laugh.

"I promise, I will bring it by later" she winked at him.

"Ok Lucas, that's all for today, you did very well. We will leave you to get some rest, you look like you need it. I will be back to check on you later."

With that done, Vi and Dr Morgan left the room.

"You ok?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah. That hurt like hell" he smiled in an attempt to reassure her.

Peyton wished that she could take his pain away; she hated to see him suffer. But there was nothing that she could do. She didn't remind him that that wasn't the last of it so instead she approached another subject.

"So what do you think about Nathan's idea then?"

"It sounds great. I would love to do it."

"Well I don't think you really have a choice, he has probably already booked the tickets" she laughed.

Lucas let out a chuckle and looked at their joined hands. It looked so right that it was hard to see it any other way.

"So, how much sleep did you really get last night?" questioned Peyton after a few moments of silence.

Lucas looked away guiltily but didn't answer.

"You know I can tell when you are lying" she said softly.

Lucas once again turned his gaze to their intertwined hands. "I didn't get any" he admitted.

"Why?" she asked.

She got no response so she forced Lucas to meet her gaze.

"Look at me Lucas" she said gently as she cupped his chin and turned his face to hers.

"Why?" she repeated.

Lucas looked deeply into her eyes before finally answering.

"I was afraid to" he said, ashamed, trying to break away from he comforting stare.

"Why were you afraid?" she spoke quietly, once again forcing him to meet her gaze.

"I was sacred that……I would wake up and not remember again." He whispered quietly.

Peyton's heart shattered when she heard his broken admission and tried to stop the tears from pooling into her eyes.

"oh Lucas." She moved to sit on the bed and took his other hand in hers.

"That wont happen again" she said with conviction.

He looked at her, doubt still evident in his eyes. Peyton moved her hand to the side of his face.

"There is no need to be afraid. You're not going to forget. You beat the odds and came back. You're strong Luke. I promise that it won't happen again."

How could he argue with that? If Peyton believed that it wouldn't happen, then he would to. He nodded his head, showing her that he believed her. The couple simply stared into each others eyes and nothing but the two of them existed. This was the time, Lucas knew it.

"Peyton, I……"

Before he could finish, reality reared its head as it came crashing back into the room when the door opened, revealing the arrival of Nathan and Haley.

"hey guys" Haley said softly. She seemed to have realised that she and her husband may have just interrupted something important.

Lucas smiled at her as Peyton moved from the bed.

"Hey Hales."

"I hope we didn't interrupt anything" Nathan said.

**Two updates within 24 hours! This shows I must like you all! :)**** don't you just hate it when something you have been dying to see gets rudely interrupted!? Aren't I evil!**

**Please review! **


	18. Chapter 18

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We have passed the 100 mark for the reviews! Yay! That is like an early Christmas present to me, lol. If you are wondering why I am publishing so many updates so quickly, it is because I have the flu and am stuck in bed, bored out of my mind! So I thought I would spend my time wisely and get something done, so I am working furiously on this story! I just hope that the dreaded flu isn't affecting my writing! Let me know if it is! Here is chapter 18!

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As happy as Lucas was at seeing his brother and best friend, he was annoyed with their incredibly bad timing. Just as he had worked up the courage to confess his feelings to Peyton, they had to interrupt. He sent a fleeting look at Peyton, who caught his eye, and they both sent an awkward smile at each other.

As Nathan and Haley seated themselves next to her, Peyton let out an internal sigh. She had the feeling that Lucas was about to tell her something important. He had the serious expression he always wore when discussing serious matters, she remembered it well. She wondered what it was that he was about to tell her. She tried not to get her hopes up too much with the thought that maybe he was about to admit his feelings to her.

_Get a grip Peyton! He just had a serious accident and is recovering from amnesia. The last thing on his mind right now is relationship issues _she scolded herself.

She looked over at Haley who appeared a little sheepish. She seemed to realise that she and her husband had interrupted something important. Peyton sent her a reassuring smile, not wanting her to worry about it and turned her attention to the conversation Nathan had started with his brother.

"So Luke, how are you doing today? You look rough this morning" Nathan stated.

"Thanks for that wonderful compliment Nate" Lucas replied sarcastically.

"That's what I'm here for" Nathan grinned cheekily. Lucas merely rolled his eyes.

"He's right though Luke, you look very tired. Did you sleep ok?" Haley asked worriedly.

Peyton saw that Lucas was struggling with his response, so she came to his defence.

"He had to have the pin tightened about half an hour ago and it took a lot out of him" Peyton reasoned.

Lucas sent her a grateful smile as Haley began to fire many questions at him.

"How did it go? Are you ok? Did they give you enough pain relief?" she said hurriedly.

"Breathe Hales" Lucas laughed "it hurt like hell but it has to be done right?"

"How bad?" asked his brother.

Lucas thought for a second. "Well how bad did it hurt when you got thrown through that window?"

Nathan made a pained face "Ouch. I feel for ya bro" he winced.

"I'm sorry Luke. Just remember that it is there to make you feel better" Haley assured.

"You sound like someone who works here" Peyton joked.

Haley laughed "sorry, the mom in he is coming out!" she defended.

The others all found her expression amusing.

"So Luke, your mom is coming by later with Andy and Lily. They are all dying to see you, especially your little sister. She has been demanding to come and see you since she first arrived back home" Haley informed him.

Lucas smiled at the thought of his little sister. "I can't wait to see her; I've missed her so much."

They chatted for a while about anything and everything, enjoying each other's company. When Nathan told him about the trip to New York, Lucas pretended to be surprised (he wasn't sure if Peyton was supposed to have told him about it) and Nathan was happy that he had given his brother something to look forward to when he got out of hospital. He proudly announced that he had already booked the tickets, causing Lucas and Peyton to share a secretive smile.

"I honestly can't wait" Lucas told his brother. Nathan beamed at him.

Their attention was turned to the door when Vi walked in, holding a plate and fork.

"Vi never goes back on a promise" she winked at Lucas. "here is your pudding tough guy, and i made sure that there was extra chocolate" she said as she set it on the table and pulled it up to Lucas, who looked extremely happy at the thought of devouring the cake.

Peyton laughed as the others looked on, confused. Seeing this, Peyton informed them of Vi's earlier promise.

"Do I get any cake?" Nathan asked hopefully.

Vi glared at him "Did you have a pin in your leg tightened?" she asked him.

"No, but I finally built a card tower!" Nathan said proudly.

"Sorry honey, but that doesn't warrant you any cake" she patted his shoulder on her way to the door.

Lucas saw the hungry stare that Nathan was giving the cake and moved it as far away from him as he could.

Upon reaching the door, Vi turned around and spoke once more.

"Oh, I found these three wondering the hallway; they seemed desperate to come in."

She pulled the door open a little wider and in flew Lily, heading straight for Lucas.

"LUKIE!" she squealed as she raced towards him. She was stopped halfway as Andy, who had finally caught up with her, scooped her into his arms.

"Slow down munchkin! Lucas is still hurt so you have to be careful ok? Remember what we told you in the car about being gentle?" he reasoned with the little girl.

Lily nodded quickly and Andy put her down. She straightened out her flowery dress and walked the rest of the way to her brother with a dignified stride. Nathan held back a snort at her attempt of innocence.

"Hey Luke" Lily smiled when she reached him.

Lucas held out his arms to his sister, who quickly jumped up on the bed (with Peyton's help), and hugged her brother tightly.

"I missed you Luke" she said tearfully.

"I missed you too Lily flower" he said, hugging her back. "hey, there's no need to cry" he said as he wiped the tears from her face.

"But you got hurted" she sniffed.

"Yeah, but I'm better now" he reassured

"Pwomise?" she asked

"I promise" he replied as he cupped her face.

The tender scene between her two children brought tears to Karen's eyes. She wished Keith was here to see them. She moved over to the bed and gave her son a hug.

"Hey baby boy" she said, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"Hey Ma"

After letting mother and son greet each other, Andy made his way to the bedside.

"It's great to see you Lucas" Andy greeted. He moved forward to give him a quick hug, which Lucas returned.

"Great to see you too Andy" Lucas replied

"I am so going to buy you a car with the most advanced safety features ever made" Andy joked.

Lucas laughed. "It's gonna be a while before I start driving again"

"Well when that day comes, I will buy you a tank" Andy said, causing a wave of laughter to wash through the room.

By now, Lily had settled into her brother's lap and the others had seated themselves around the room. Haley told them that Lucas had had the pin in his leg tightened, causing his mothers worry meter to go into overdrive as she began fussing around him.

"Ma, its fine, I'm ok" Lucas tried to reassure her.

"Are you sure?" Karen said, unconvinced.

"Yes. I'm fine." He reinforced causing Karen to sit back down.

"Lucas?" Lily said in a questioning tone.

"Yeah?"

"Can I have some cake please?" she asked in her little voice.

"Sure you can" came his reply as he handed her the fork.

Lily gave a cheeky smile as she sampled the chocolate confectionary, the look on her face showed her approval.

"Hey!" shouted Nathan indignantly, "How come she gets some?"

Lily beat her brother to the answer "Cuz he loves me better" she said, chocolate smeared over her face.

"No he doesn't" came Nathan's childish reply.

"Oh my god, don't start this again" Peyton chided him.

"Hey, she started it!" Nathan tried to defend himself.

"Yes but she, unlike you, is four years old both physically and mentally. You merely have the mental age of a four year old" Peyton teased.

Lucas decided to cut off the argument before it could go any further. "I love you both the same. If you really want a bit Nathan, you can have some" he reasoned with his siblings.

Nathan smiled triumphantly at Lily as he ate a large bite of cake. Lily didn't seemed to be bothered by his antics at all, merely telly Nathan that he was a silly, silly man.

* * *

Several hours had come and gone, and the room was getting a little crowded.

"I think I'm going to go home and take a shower, i probably smell real bad" Peyton joked.

"Yeah sawyer, you really do" said Nathan, earning himself a smack off both Peyton and Haley.

"Ow!" he yelled, causing Lily to giggle.

"We will come with you, we need to see how Jaime is" Haley said as she pulled Nathan from his chair.

"Are you going to come back later?" Lucas asked.

Haley didn't answer, as she knew that the question was directed at Peyton.

Peyton saw the hope in his eyes and smiled at him. "Of course. I will bring some demos of potential artists and you can help me sought through them if you want" she asked him.

Lucas smiled brightly at her response, one that didn't go unnoticed by the other occupants of the room.

"That sounds great" he said enthusiastically.

Haley and Karen shared a knowing glance at the eye flirting that was going on between the two.

"Right then, we shall stop by soon Luke" Haley said as she gave him a hug.

"yeah, sure" came his response. Haley smiled when she noticed that it wasn't as enthusiastic as his reply to Peyton had been, she didn't mind in the least, it gave her something to gossip about with Brooke.

The others said their goodbyes as they left Lucas with Andy, Karen and Lily.

Lucas realised that he was already missing Peyton and was excited at the prospect of her return. With that to look forward to, he joined his family in their conversation.

**I promise that there will be loads more Leyton in the next chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! **

**Please review, it will make me feel much better!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Well that wasn't a very productive week- I really hate being ill lol. Anyway, enough feeling sorry for myself, I promised you another Leyton chapter and here it is. Enjoy!**

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Peyton had returned to the hospital a few hours after Karen, Andy and Lily had left, allowing Lucas to get some rest. She marched into the room with determination, carrying a stereo. Lucas smiled in greeting, which she returned.

"Nice boom box" he joked.

Peyton laughed before answering him. "How else do you suggest we listen to the demos?" she challenged as she placed a stack of cd's next to it. Her reply was a shrug from the man in the bed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him, noticing that he still looked a little weak.

"I'm ok. Thanks for covering with Haley earlier" he said gratefully.

"No problem, she means well but she would have kicked up a fuss" she smiled.

"I don't want to worry her. She has enough to deal with" Lucas said softly.

"Always the protector" Peyton laughed fondly.

"So how many demos do you have there" he said, changing the subject.

"Quite a few and I need your help with deciding which are the best. You seem to have pretty good taste" She teased.

"Really? I'm glad that you think so, after all, I like pretty much the same music that you do"

"Yeah well, we shall truly see how good your taste it when we listen to these" Peyton said as she played the first cd. A horrible screeching sound emitted itself from the stereo.

Lucas covered his ears quickly as Peyton frantically tried to turn it off.

"Oh my god, turn it off" Lucas begged

"I'm trying!" yelled Peyton as she finally hit the stop button.

"Oh praise the lord!" cried Lucas as they were at long last rid of the noise

Peyton laughed heartily at his stupidity. "Luke, your such a dork sometimes."

Lucas pretended to look offended "you know you love it" he laughed before realising what he had said, immediately sobering up the conversation.

"Yeah." Replied Peyton sincerely. They were quiet for a moment before Peyton interrupted the stillness.

"Lets see what other horrors lie ahead"

This earned a small chuckle and smile off Lucas. As a decent song began to play, he shuffled a bit on the bed. Unfortunately in doing so, he knocked his leg on the side of the bed. Immense pain shot through it and Lucas gasped, gaining Peyton's attention. She quickly rushed to his side.

"Luke what's wrong" she asked frantically. Lucas pointed to his leg where Peyton saw blood beginning to seep from where the pin had been placed. She quickly pushed the call button for the nurse.

Not a second later and Nurse Vi and Dr Morgan were rushing into the room. They immediately spotted the problem and began to attend to it.

"What happened" Dr Morgan asked gently.

Lucas was still in great pain and took a moment to answer. He grit his teeth as he did so "I knocked it on the side of the bed" he bit out, his face creased in pain. Peyton grabbed onto his hand.

Dr Morgan sighed. "Ok Lucas, it's nothing to worry about I just need you to relax ok" he said as he looked at the heart monitor from the corner of his eye. Peyton noticed and followed his stare, seeing that Lucas' heart rate was speeding. She gripped his hand tighter.

"its ok Lucas. Just calm down, come on" she hoped that her voice would soothe him like it had done before.

Vi, who had left the room only moment ago, returned with what Lucas prayed was some sort of pain relief. It was. Vi hurridley but carefully injected it into his IV. Lucas felt the immediate effects as the drugs took away the edge to his pain. By now he had closed his eyes and was breathing heavily whilst still maintain a firm grip on Peyton's hand.

"Ok Lucas, we are just going to clean up the wound around the pin. It appears to have stopped bleeding."

Without opening his eyes Lucas aimed a question at the Doctor. Peyton immediately picked up on the worry in his voice.

"am I going to need more surgery?"

Dr Morgan smiled gently before answering. "No Lucas, you just gave it a sharp knock. As it is still very tender, it caused it to bleed a little. This is why I told you not to move around much." He scolded gently.

By now Lucas had opened his eyes. "I hardly knocked it all!" he defended.

"That doesn't matter. The slightest bump can affect it. Just be more careful in future" Dr Morgan replied.

"It's not like I was jumping about on the bed" Lucas pouted.

Dr Morgan laughed. "I know that Lucas. Just remember that your leg is very sensitive."

He and Vi finished cleaning up the wound and both they and Peyton were relieved to see that his heart rate had slowed down.

"Ok Lucas, all done. I will come back to check on you later" with that, Dr Morgan and Vi left the room.

"You ok?" Peyton asked him. With the way Lucas had been recently, Peyton had forgotten how badly he was still hurt. She had been so focused with having him back that she had blocked out her knowledge of his many injuries.

"Yeah. Stupid leg" Lucas muttered.

"Well be more careful then. You had me scared stiff" Peyton said as she squeezed his hand.

"I promise."

They spent the next hour listening to the demos. None were that fantastic if they were perfectly honest. Peyton sighed in defeat.

"all of that and not one good band" she huffed.

"yeah. But it was fun. Although some of them need a reality check. Especially that girl who sounded like a squashed frog" Lucas commented.

Peyton let out a deep laugh which Lucas joined in with. When their laughter died down, Lucas spoke.

"You sure there are none left?"

"yep. All there is is a cd of Mia's. She's recorded a few cover songs for her new album." Peyton replied as she looked through the collection of cds.

"Lets hear it then"

Peyton stood and loaded the cd into the player. The soft strains of Sheryl Crow's " I still believe" floated out in Mia's voice. They listened in silence for a moment, relaxing to the calming melody.

"You may not have found any new talent yet, but you have a pretty great one already" Lucas told her.

"Yeah, I really do" agreed Peyton softly.

Lucas knew that it was now or never. He had to tell her the truth. He summed up all of his courage and addressed her.

"Peyton, there is something I need to tell you" He began.

Peyton knew that serious tone and she moved to sit on the bed facing him. He made move to sit up a little more but she stopped him with a gentle hand to his chest.

"Steady. Don't go hurting yourself again"

Lucas chuckled. "I'm fine"

She nodded and took a deep breath. "So what did you want to tell me?"

Lucas looked down for a moment before speaking.

"I've been lying to myself for a while now. Trying to deny it and hide away from it. But I can't hide it any longer. It has taken me so long to realise this, much longer than I should have am I will be the first to admit that I have behaved like a complete idiot."

Peyton was focused intently on his words. She didn't speak, not daring to interrupt him.

"I was hiding because I was scared. I didn't want to get hurt, but by doing that I did anyway, and I hurt others too,"

"What have you been hiding from Lucas" she asked quietly.

He looked out the window at the setting sun.

"I have been hiding from......" he stopped mid sentence. He took a calming breath and closed his eyes for a moment. This was harder than he thought it was going to be.

_Man up Scott! Don't be a coward!_ He yelled at himself.

He opened his eyes and immediately found Peyton's. They held so much assurance and love in them that Lucas was able to find the strength to say what he needed.

He gripped her hand tighter and smiled lightly when he felt her grip back.

Looking deeply into her emerald eyes he finally confessed what everyone else, apart from the two of them, had known for a very long time.

"I love you Peyton. I never stopped" he said with conviction.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she listened the words she had been so desperate to hear since Lucas had left her in the hotel room 4 long years ago. She stared at him in silence, committing this scene to her memory.

Lucas took her silence the wrong way and instantly began babbling at her response.

"I know that...that it probably doesn't change anything and I'm not just saying it because I'm in hospital and feeling vulnerable, I really mean it and I have been wanting to tell you for so long, I was just too scared and I reacted stupidly when I proposed to you, my pride got in the way and I was confused so I left which was cowardly and then I had to be away from you for four years and nothing mattered to me anymore..........."

Peyton was surprised that he had yet to breathe and smiled at his nervous rambling. For a writer, his words at the moment weren't very incoherent. She heard his apology about the proposal and after 4 years of waiting she realised that she didn't need to hear it. Life was too short, Lucas' accident had shown that. She stared at the man she loved and laughed when she saw that he was still babbling away. However, he stopped when he heard her laugh.

_She's laughing at me? Great, now she thinks I'm stupid. Thanks for the wonderful advice Keith _he thought sarcastically.

He tried not to look hurt at Peyton's reaction, but she saw it anyway and she knew that he had taken it the wrong way.

"Lucas" she said gently as she moved closer to him. He looked up at her as she placed a hand on the side of his face. He inhaled sharply.

"Shut up for a minute" she continued. He looked taken aback for a moment before she finished speaking.

"You have no idea how long I have been waiting for you to say that. Stop apologising for the past, it doesn't matter anymore. What matters now is the future." Tears had once again sprung to her eyes and Lucas raised his hand to her face and wiped them away with the pad of his thumb.

"I love you too Lucas Scott" she whispered.

The brightness of Lucas' smile could have lit up an entire city. He let out a little laugh and he brought his other hand to the left side of her face.

"for I was now, and always would be, in love with Peyton Sawyer" Lucas murmured as Peyton brought her lips to his in a long awaited kiss.

The feel of her lips on his sent little explosions all over his body. It was as though someone had lit a fire deep inside him.

Peyton couldn't believe that this was finally happening. Her dream had come true at last. Lucas' touch soothed the broken pieces of her heart, putting them back together. She ran her hands through his hair as deepened the kiss.

As much as Lucas wished he could continue, he was quickly running out of oxygen and he broke away from the kiss panting deeply.

Peyton too pulled back and smiled at him.

"Wow" muttered Lucas, causing Peyton to laugh. Lucas ran a hand through the blonde curls he loved so much.

"Peyton...." he began but was stopped as she pressed her fingers to his lips, silencing him.

"Don't. We have a lifetime to discuss everything, ok?" she asked.

"Absolutely" agreed Lucas.

Peyton gently manoeuvred herself so that she was lying by his side and made him lie down with her. She snuggled into his embrace, being careful not to hurt him and smiled when she felt his uninjured arm wrap around her and felt a kiss pressed into her hair.

"I love you Peyton" Lucas whispered tiredly.

"I love you too Lucas" she replied "Get some sleep"

When he didn't reply, she moved her head to look at him and saw that he was already fast asleep.

She snuggled back into his side as she too drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

"About time" Vi muttered as she watched the two reunite.

"if she wasn't his fiancé before, she will be soon" she laughed as she quietly left the room, knowing that Lucas didn't need the painkillers she had in her hand after watching the scene before her.

As she walked down the hallway, she started humming to herself, smiling at the thought of the family's reaction when they saw the newly reunited couple.

**I really wasn't happy about this chapter, so if it sucked, I'm very sorry. What with being ill for the past week, I have lost the momentum that I built up! I hope that it wasn't too bad. Please let me know either way so I can improve on it! Oh and just because Lucas has finally come to his senses, it doesnt mean that the story is over!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys. I just want to apologise to you all for being so crappy at updating regularly these last few weeks. I never wanted to become one of those authors who hardly updates their story but it looks like I am turning into one! I now fully appreciate how hard it actually is to update regularly, especially when you are very busy. But I promise that I'm going to be more regular from now on, call it an early new year's resolution! Anyway, you have waited long enough for an update so here is chapter 20!**

Peyton stirred from her comfy position on her bed. As she cracked open her eyes she noticed that it was still dark outside and decided that it must be very early in the morning. She smiled softly to herself as the memories of a few short hours ago came floating back to her. Lucas had finally admitted his feelings to her and at long last, they were back together. Sure, they needed to have a major discussion about all that had happened over the four years they had been apart, but as they had both agreed last night, they had plenty of time for that.

She moved a little on the bed so that she was sitting up, being careful not to wake up Lucas. She took the opportunity to watch him. She was glad that he was finally getting some sleep, he looked fairly peaceful but she could see that he was slightly tense, even in sleep.

_How can he not be _she mused to herself.

Lucas had been through so much the last few weeks, hell the last few years, that Peyton couldn't help but admire his strength. Even when he had lost his memory, he still kept his strength. It was one of the things she loved most about him. The fact that nothing took him down, he always bounced back from it. Even in high school, he let nothing tear him down. She knew that had she been in his position and been through what he had been through, she wouldn't have come out the other side. He was truly the strongest person she had ever met. Her eyes travelled along the wires that seemed to be attached to every unharmed part of his body. What with the heart monitor, his IV, oxygen tube and several others which she had no idea what their purpose was for, Lucas seemed to have more wires than an electricity board. This again reminded her that he still had a lot of recovering left to do.

She gently ran a hand through his soft blonde hair as she watched him. He stirred slightly, but didn't wake, for which she was thankful. Turning her gaze to the clock she saw that it was 3:30 in the morning, noting that she had been asleep for only a few hours. Knowing that she would probably wake Lucas if she stayed awake, she slowly resumed her position by his side and drifted back to sleep.

"Nathan, for god's sake! You have had an hour to get ready! You're worse than a girl when getting ready!" Haley shouted up the stairs at her husband.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to look respectable!" he defended as he clambered down the staircase. "Besides, we don't have to get there the minute the visiting hours start you know. Lucas will probably still be asleep." He finished as he joined Hale, Brooke and Skills in the hallway.

"The earlier we get there, the more time we get to spend with Lucas. He looked a little pained yesterday and I want to make sure that everything is ok" Haley replied.

Nathan smiled at his wife's thoughtfulness as he applied a kiss to her forehead on his way out the door. She smiled and watched him as he got into the car, followed by Skills.

"Are you coming? We don't want to be late you know" Nathan shouted as he stuck his head out the window, causing Brooke and Haley to roll their eyes as they made their way to the car.

20 minutes later, they had parked the car and were making their way to Lucas' hospital room. They chatted happily as they walked up to the door. They passed Vi at the nurses' station, who gave them a knowing smile. They finally reached the door and Nathan pushed open the door. To say that they weren't prepared for the sight that met their eyes was an understatement.

All four visitors simply stood in the doorway, speechless as they saw Lucas and Peyton asleep in each other's arms. it wasn't the fact that they were surprised that they were back together, it was more to do with the fact that Lucas had finally confessed the feelings they thought he never would. Several minutes passed, but no one moved or spoke. They didn't notice that Vi was watching them, nor did they hear her laugh and mutter "where's a camera when you need it?"

The silence was finally broken when a high pitched squeal of excitement was emitted from Brooke. Unfortunately, this caused Peyton and Lucas to wake up with a start, which Lucas instantly regretted.

"Jesus Brooke, cant you give a quieter wakeup call in future?" he winced as his jolt upset the injuries. Peyton quickly made sure that he was alright.

"Never mind that!" shouted Brooke, "What's going on here?" she exclaimed excitedly

"What does it look like?" Peyton muttered sarcastically.

"Wow. You two get real cranky when you wake up" muttered Skills.

"When were WOKEN up I think you mean Skills." Peyton amended as she moved to sit up on the bed. Lucas remained lying down, he still hadn't woken up fully yet.

"Forget about that and answer the question . are you and Lucas back together?"

Four pairs of eyes turned to the couple expectantly. Peyton looked at Lucas who nodded at her.

"Yes" she stated simply with a smile, causing Brooke to squeal again and clap her hands excitedly.

Haley, Nathan and Skills all smiled at each other as they made their way over to the excited couple.

"Congrats guys, "Nathan said as Haley hugged Peyton. Lucas smiled at his brother as he pushed himself up on the bed.

"This is so great. I knew you would see sense Broody" Brooke said by way of greeting to Lucas. She hadn't seen him since before the accident.

Lucas smiled at her "nice to see you too Brooke" he said as she made her way over to him and gave him a soft hug.

"Glad to have you back Luke" she said sincerely as she released him. He smiled at her as Skills approach his childhood friend.

"Now dawg, there is no need to go getting into a car accident to avoid playing with me, I know I would have whipped your scrawny ass, but if you had just told me you were too scared to play me we could have avoided this whole mess" Skills grinned.

Lucas laughed at his friend and held out his fist "hey Skills" he said as the other man took him in a one armed hug.

"How yak feelin dawg?" Skills questioned as he pulled back.

"Better" Lucas replied.

"Good to hear"

During the greetings, the others had settled themselves around the room, Peyton in the chair right by the bedside. When the greetings were finished, she took his hand in hers, smiling as she did so.

The group feel into a relaxed chatter as the couple were questioned on their reunion, all stating that it was about time. Brooke seemed to be more pleased about it than Lucas and Peyton, clapping happily and getting a dopy look on her face as Peyton told them about it. They spent the next few hours talking and enjoying being in each other's company. It wasn't until Dr Morgan and Vi entered the room that they stopped their discussion.

"Good Morning Lucas, how are you feeling after last night's incident?" Dr Morgan questioned.

"Ok" Lucas replied as Haley and Nathan shot a quizzical look at Lucas. Peyton caught their eye and sent them a look that said _I'll tell you later._ She didn't want them bombarding Lucas with questions and make him relive last night's events. Brooke and Haley took the hint and settled back into their seats.

"glad to hear it Lucas. I'm afraid it's that time again, your pin needs to be tightened."

Lucas looked crestfallen. His reunion with Peyton had pushed his injuries to the back of his mind and he had felt happier than he had been in the last few weeks but this announcement put a damper on his spirits.

Peyton's heart went out to him, wishing there was something she could do to take away his pain, but knowing helplessly that she couldn't. All she could do was be there for him. However, Dr Morgan's Next words brought great hope to the occupants to the room.

"The good news is that if all is well over the next few days Lucas, I will be happy to let you go home. You will have to come back for physical therapy of course and a nurse will be sent to your home to tighten the pin and check up on you, but at least you will be out of here" Dr Morgan smiled.

Lucas looked up in disbelief. "I get to go home?" he sounded like a child who had been promised a trip to Disneyland.

Dr Morgan nodded "If all goes well the next few days" he reinstated.

Lucas nodded his head determinedly; he would do anything to get home. The others looked immensely happy at the news they had just heard as goofy grins spread across their faces. Just a few weeks ago, it was likely that Lucas would never be home again. It was the best news they had heard for a while.

Lucas looked up at Peyton, who beamed back up at him and took his hand.

"Obviously, there are many things that I will have to discuss with you beforehand, but we shall worry about that nearer the time. Now let's tighten this pin.

Lucas took a deep breath and his face adapted an unwavering gaze, his return home on his mind and what he had to do to get there. Vi went over to his IV and injected the painkillers like she had done the day before. "Here you are tough guy, that should settle you down" she winked. As she was doing this Peyton addressed the others out of Lucas' earshot.

"Would you guys mind leaving for a moment, only its really painful for him and I know he doesn't like you seeing him that way" she said quietly. They all agreed except for Haley.

"I'm staying" she said firmly. Peyton was about to argue until she looked into her determined face. She knew there would be no persuading her so she simply nodded.

"Hey Luke, me Skills and Brooke are gonna go get some coffee. We will be back in a little while" announced Nathan.

Lucas nodded, relieved that they wouldn't all be there to watch. He turned his gaze towards Haley with a questioning glance. She raised an eyebrow up at him as she took his free hand.

"What? I'm not going Lucas, you're my best friend and I have seen you at your worst moments. Remember when we were 6 and you're insisted that we climbed that tree?" Haley began as Dr Morgan and Vi began to tighten the pin. Peyton had sat by Lucas' side brushing one hand through his hair and holding his hand in her other, feeling him squeeze it tightly. Lucas closed his eyes and nodded at Haley's words.

"remember how we got to the top and I lost my balance? I would have fallen and seriously hurt myself but you grabbed me and broke my fall and your arm in the process. You were really brave and you tried really hard not to cry, even though it really hurt and you said that as long as I was ok, then so were you." Haley smiled at the memory, as did the others. "Karen was away that day so Keith was watching you and he was horrified at what happened and went into a full scale panic. He drove us to the hospital like and mad man and was convinced that Karen would never let him see you again."

This caused Lucas to laugh as he focused on Haley's words. She laughed with him for a second before continuing.

"Anyway, your mom came to the hospital, all worried about you, and all you cared about was making sure you had a red cast out on your arm, you didn't really care about that fact that it was broken. Your mom was so relived you were ok and Keith was relieved she didn't kill him"

By the time Haley had finished retelling the story, the pin had been tightened. Lucas let out a deep breath as Peyton wiped away the tear drops from his cheeks. He hadn't even noticed that they had escaped from his closed eye lids. He looked up at her and saw her worried expression. He gave her a smile to reassure her as she placed a kiss to his forehead.

Haley grinned at the scene, glad that the two of them had found each other once more. Her smile was even brighter when Lucas met her gaze.

"Thanks Hales" he whispered.

She grasped both hands over his. "that's what best friends are for" she smiled. She looked up and caught Peyton's eye. She saw the worry in them that she knew mirrored her own. She too hated seeing Lucas like this.

_It's all to make him better_ she reassured herself.

"Well Lucas, that went very well, although you probably don't agree" Dr Morgan chuckled

"can't you just knock me out whenever you do this? It will go a lot smoother" Lucas joked.

Dr Morgan let out a deep laugh.

"Sorry Lucas, all that anaesthetic won't be good for you in the long run I'm afraid. Well that all, unless you had any questions?"

Lucas drowsily shook his head. The painkillers were really starting to kick in.

"Ok, well I will go and sort out the details of your release" Dr Morgan smiled when Lucas sobered up quickly and nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Ok, I will see you later then Lucas, get some rest" Dr Morgan made their way to the door just as Brooke, Nathan and Skills strolled through it.

"Yo, everything all right?" skills asked the room at large.

His response was the nod of three heads. They all seated themselves around the room and Peyton took this moment to make sure that Lucas really was ok.

"You sure you're ok?" she whispered as she ran a hand through his hair.

"Of course I am, I'm with you" he replied.

"Charmer" she smiled back. Lucas merely laughed softly as he tried to relax. The atmosphere of the room was calm and happy and Lucas was slowly being lulled into slumber.

However, the relaxation was short lived at the door to the room opened. Lucas turned towards it, expecting Dr Morgan to have come back with the details of his release. It wasn't him. A wave of hate washed over him as the person he loathed most crept into the room. The atmosphere immediately became tense.

"Lucas, I need to talk to you son" came the voice of Dan Scott.

**There you are! I know I used Dan as a cliff hanger before, but I wanted him to come back into the story-as we all know-Dan Scott doesn't give up! Hope you enjoyed the chapter-Lord knows you waited long enough for it! Please review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys! So Christmas is one week away! Can't wait. I always revert to my 4 year old self at Christmas time and you can probably tell that I get hyper lol. Sorry I haven't updated sooner (this is starting to become a pattern) but it's a very busy time of year for all but I am pleased to say that I have finished all my Christmas shopping, which I am happy about. Although I don't think my bank account would agree lol. Anyway, thank you to all of those who have stuck with my story from the begining and have been following with much enthusiasm. I'm glad that so many of you are enjoying the story! As an early Christmas present, I give you chapter 21!**

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"You have got to be kidding me!" Nathan yelled as a sense of déjà vu washed over him.

He and Skills had sprung to their feet the minute Dan had stepped into the room, effectively blocking his path to Lucas.

"I only want to speak to Lucas" Dan stated calmly, unfazed by the reaction of the two younger men.

"You've said more than enough to him for one lifetime" Nathan growled. Skills nodded his head. He hadn't been here when Dan first visited, but he had heard all about it from the others. And from what he had witnessed in the past, he wasn't going to let this monster near his friend.

"This has nothing to do with you Nathan" Dan responded.

"It sure as hell does when you want to mess with my brother!" Nathan felt Haley place a calming hand on his forearm and Nathan took a deep breath. However, he still maintained the murderous glare he was shooting at Dan.

"Mr Scott, I think its best that you leave" Haley said softly but forcefully.

"I only wish to speak to my son" Dan repeated.

"Don't you dare call me that" Lucas said in a low, dangerous voice, speaking his first words since Dan had arrived.

His words drew the attention of all the rooms' occupants as Dan turned towards his eldest son.

"Lucas, I understand I have no right to ask for it, but please, just give me chance to explain" Dan pleaded.

"Give me one good reason why I should" Lucas demanded, his anger rapidly increasing. Just looking at Dan made his blood boil. The hate he felt for this man was overwhelming.

"Because I'm your father" Dan reasoned. These four words awoke a beast inside Lucas' chest.

"You are not my father!" Lucas all but roared, as he sat up straighter in his bed, ignoring the protests of the girls that he would upset his injuries.

"How can you even call yourself that? Do you know what a father is actually supposed to do? They protect their kids, support them, look after them, love them, and teach them! They don't abandon their kids, or manipulate them, or try and strangle them. Nor do they murder the people that their kids love the most! You are the furthest possible thing from a father Dan" Lucas spat "Why the sudden need to play daddy after spending the last 22 years denying that you are my father? I don't want you, nor do I need you in my life!"

The room was deadly silent at Lucas' outburst. The only sound to be heard was the racing beeping of his heart machine, which didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"Lucas, please calm down" Peyton said gently as she grasped his hand. When he made no response to her, she tried again "Lucas, baby, look at me" she said, placing her hands on either side of his face. Lucas' eyes slowly met her own as she brushed her thumb over his cheek.

"You have every right to be angry, but now isn't the right time. It may bring on another heart attack and I don't want that to happen again you understand? Please calm down Lucas, for me. Please" Lucas let her words sink in as he closed his eyes and took several calming breaths. His friends were very relieved to see the heart monitor slow down.

Peyton smiled at him when he opened his eyes and he slowly returned it. He then settled his gaze upon Dan.

"What are you still doing here?" he said coldly.

"I heard about your surgery and wanted to make sure that you were ok" Dan replied.

"We, as you can see, I'm fine. My family are here with me."

Dan knew that Lucas wasn't including him in this statement. He knew it would be hard to try and get Lucas to talk to him, but he was hell bent on trying.

"Lucas, please. I just want to talk to you. If, after I have said my piece, you still want me to go, I will." Dan reasoned.

Lucas sighed deeply. He knew how persistent Dan was and that he would keep coming back until he got what he wanted. The last thing that Lucas needed right now was for Dan to keep popping up.

"Fine. You have 5 minutes" Lucas snapped.

Dan looked at the others expectantly, silently asking them to leave.

"Oh hell no. We're not leaving you alone with him" Nathan growled.

The others all nodded in agreement and Lucas visibly relaxed at the knowledge that he wasn't going to be left alone with Dan.

"Ok" Dan said, knowing this was the best chance he was going to get. He moved to the foot of Lucas' bed, but wasn't able to get any closer as the others had all seated themselves around the edge.

"I wasn't joking when I said you only had 5 minutes and it looks like you have just wasted one" Lucas muttered when Dan hadn't spoken.

Dan looked up at his son, noticing how unwell he still looked, his eyes travelled to his leg as he cleared his throat. It looked painful.

"I know you probably won't believe me Lucas, but I am sorry for what I did. I know it was wrong to lie to you, especially when you had just had a bad accident, but I saw it as my only real chance to speak to you. There was no history to get in the way, just me and you and for the first time, we were able to have a proper conversation"

"Because you lied to me about how you were. You know as well as I do that if I hadn't lost my memory, I wouldn't have let you near me." Lucas snapped.

Dan nodded "I know that Lucas, but I was desperate to talk to you. You don't know how hard it is to be cut off from your family." He pleaded.

"Well you should have thought about that before you murdered Keith!" Lucas spat "and as far as I am concerned, you are not my family"

Dan hid the hurt from his face as he heard those words. "Lucas, I don't know what else to say other than I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you....."

Dan was cut off as Lucas gave a little laugh of disbelief "never meant to hurt me?" He said incredulously "Dan, that's all you have ever done to me. Never once, have you been sincere or nice to me without there being some sort of manipulation behind it. Never once have you been there the way a father should be, you have never given anything to me without there being strings attached. Except of course, my heart condition. That's the only real thing that you have given to me."

Dan didn't know what to say to that. He knew the words his son spoke were true, and he knew it would take more than just a few words to fix this mess.

"Lucas, I would take it all back if I could. The only reason I was like that towards you was because I was jealous of Keith."

Lucas, as well as the others looked confused by this.

"He was so close to you. You loved spending time with him and whenever you talked about him it was about how great he was. He got to see you grow up. He got to hold you after you were born, he saw your first steps. He took you to your first day of school. He did everything with you, and your mom. That should have been me"

Lucas was outraged by what he was hearing. "It should have been you? Whose fault was that? You choose not to be there Dan and I am glad that you weren't. Keith was 10 times the father you couldn't even hope to be. I'm glad he was the one to raise me, not you. He actually cared. Nothing he did for me came with a condition and he was always happy to help me in any way. So don't you dare complain about all that you missed because it was your choice."

The whole room was silent. Dan knew that he was fighting a losing battle, but still believed there was something else he could do. Before he could speak, he was cut off by his youngest son.

"I believe your 5 minutes are up" Nathan stated as he stood from his chair. Skills quickly joined him.

"I guess you better make good on your promise to leave Dan" Lucas muttered.

Dan looked down sadly before turning towards the door. As he pulled it open he spoke one last time.

"I hope one day you will be able to forgive me" and with that, he was gone.

Lucas visibly relaxed and leaned back on his bed.

"You ok Luke?" his brother asked

"Yeah Nate, I'm fine. You ok?"

Nathan laughed "Sure."

The atmospere in the room resumed to its earlier state of calm relaxation as the group of friends once again began chatting merrily away.

* * *

About an hour after Dan's departure, Karen and Andy arrived.

"How's my boy today?" Karen asked as she hugged Lucas.

"Ready to go home" Lucas joked.

As if on cue, Dr Morgan came in. Judging by the smile on his face, he was bringing good news.

"Well Lucas, I am happy to inform you that you can go home in 3 days"

Lucas looked like Christmas had come early and the others laughed at the expression of pure joy on his face.

"There are a few conditions though" Dr Morgan warned.

Lucas nodded his head in acceptance. He had expected that.

"So, what are they" Karen asked.

"First, he needs to be visited by a nurse everyday that will come and tighten his pin."

Lucas looked a little put off by this condition but he knew that it had to be done.

"Secondly, for the first couple of days, he is on strict bed rest. No moving around ok?" at Lucas' nod Dr Morgan continued, "He needs someone with him at all times, he is not to be left alone"

Lucas looked disgruntled at this "I need a permanent babysitter?"

"What I mean is, someone must be nearby. They must always be in the house with you. Obviously you can be left alone in your room, but they need to be close by in case you need them."

Again, Lucas nodded. He understood that. "What else?" he asked.

"Just take it easy, and make sure to take all your medication. When the pin is removed from your leg we can start a course of physiotherapy to help strengthen your leg.

"Ok. I can do all that" Lucas said, a little unhappy that he had to depend on everyone else.

As Haley absorbed the doctor's words, she came up with a brilliant idea. She caught her husband's eye and from the look on his face, he had thought the same thing. He smiled at her and nodded. Haley beamed back at him before she turned to the others.

"Lucas, you are going to come and stay with me and Nathan until you get better" she stated firmly.

Lucas looked perplexed, as did the others. "Why?" he asked.

"Think about it. Your house is, no offence, too small, especially now that your mom, Andy and Lily are all going to be staying there too. We have a spare bedroom on the ground floor so you won't have to worry about stairs, and you can easily access all the downstairs rooms from there. Plus, it's our house, so someone will always be around" she laughed.

Lucas took a moment to let her words sink in. She turned to his mother, making sure it was ok with her. After all, it was her son she was talking about. She was relieved when she was met with Karen's smiling face.

"That sounds wonderful Haley, it's very kind of you and Nathan."

Haley nodded. "You can come round whenever you want, all of you can" she said.

Brooke scoffed "as if you could keep us all away"

They turned to Lucas, who still looked hesitant. "I don't want to burden you or get in the way. I will be fine at home."

"Lucas, there is no way you could be a burden. I wouldn't have offered otherwise. We would love to have you with us, especially Jamie. He has been dying to see his Uncle Lucas."

Lucas smiled at Haley's words. He turned to look at Peyton to see what she thought. He was met with her smiling face as she answered his unspoken question.

"It's a great idea Lucas" she smiled.

Lucas turned back to his best friend. "Ok Hales, I would love to"

Haley squealed excitedly and pulled him into a hug.

"You do realise that your house won't be empty from now on?" Skills questioned.

Nathan laughed "When is it not?" the others laughed in agreement.

"Well looks like all that is settled then, I shall go and start on the necessary paperwork" Said Dr Morgan as he left the family alone.

Haley took this opportunity it go into full detail about how great it was going to be having Lucas there. He couldn't help smiling himself. In just a few short days he would be able to go home, and he couldn't wait.

**Don't worry guys, the story will get much better when Lucas gets home, what with people fussing about him and him and Peyton having those all important talks. I will try to update as best as I can, but being so close to Christmas, I'm very busy lol. Please review, let me know what you thought!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey guys! So Christmas is only 1 day away! I can't wait! If this turns out to be my last update before the big day, I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Hope it's magical for you all and you have a great time! Thanks again to all of you who reviewed, I really love reading them and finding out your opinions on the story! Once again, Merry Christmas! Here is chapter 22! Enjoy!**

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3 days later saw Lucas being loaded into the Naley car, more than ready to go home. He had been escorted to the car by wheelchair, as he was still too weak to support himself on crutches. He had made sure to complain as much as possible and was now making a list on the negatives of being in a wheelchair. Nathan rolled his eyes as he pushed his brother through the car park.

"It is very undignified, it squeaks, it makes me look like an invalid........." Lucas carried on causing Peyton and Haley to share an amused smile. They didn't mind all his whining in the slightest. It was always funny when Lucas complained. He sounded like a four year old.

"Handsome, you are lucky to be leaving the hospital at all. If you keep complaining I will wheel your scrawny butt back into the hospital" Stated Vi

Lucas stopped mid sentence and glared silently at her. Of course he was grateful that he was going home, he just wished he was able to do it a little more independently.

Nathan steered Lucas to the car and unlocked it. He then opened the rear door to the land rover and turned to look at his brother expectantly.

Lucas knew exactly what Nathan's look meant. He shuddered.

"It's ok Nate, I can hop in myself."

His response was an eyebrow raise.

"Luke, push your pride away for a moment and let me help you" Nathan said as he moved towards his brother. "Skills, man, can I have a hand?"

"Sure dog" Skills replied as he moved over to Lucas side.

"This is so humiliating" Lucas muttered.

"Been there, done that, and if I recall you helped me in situations like this. The least I can do is help you" Nathan stated.

Lucas sighed in defeat as Nathan place an arm round his back, under his arm and pulled him up. Lucas balanced a little weight on his good leg and winced as he felt the stitches in his stomach pull slightly. Skills then moved to his other side and, without knowing his leg, they managed to successfully move him into the car.

Once settled, Lucas closed his eyes and leaned back against the headrest. He was exhausted and he hadn't even done anything. He felt a hand wrap around his from the other side of the backseat and smiled. He cracked open his eyes and was met with the sight if his girlfriends face.

"You ok?" she asked softly.

"I'm fine. I will be a lot better when I get home."

Peyton smiled as she thought of what his reaction would be when he saw what was waiting for him. As promised, Brooke had organised a welcome home party at Naley's. Karen, Andy, Lily, Jamie, Junk, Fergie, Mouth, Millicent and Deb were all back home, putting the finishing touches to everything. Peyton smiled in anticipation as Nathan and skills loaded all of Lucas' equipment into the boot of the car. As well as the required wheel chair, Lucas also had to wear a Holter Monitor once he was back home. It was under Dr Morgan's insistence so that he could monitor Lucas heat rate and keeping a log of the electrical activity of his heart. Lucas wasn't really looking forward to having that strapped to him. Normally, he would have been fitted with it before he left the hospital, but as Dr Morgan believed that the journey would be stressful for Lucas, it wouldn't make an accurate record.

"Well then handsome, i will see you tomorrow! make sure you take care now" said Vi, throwing a wink at him as she left. Dr Morgan had assigned her as Lucas' home nurse as she was familiar with his condition and Lucas trusted her.

Once everything was loaded, Nathan and Skills jumped into the car, Nathan in the front with Haley and Skills in the back with Lucas and Peyton.

"well Lucas, say goodbye to the place you love the most" Nathan laughed as he pulled out the hospital car park and hit the main road.

* * *

"Ok, banners are up, balloons are inflated, food is out. Ok people, this is good work." Brooke commanded. The group really had done a great job. Jamie and Lily had spent a lot of time making a homemade banner that said _welcome home Luke_. After 2 attempts, they had finally spelt it right and it was decorated with basketballs and for some bizarre reason, Lily had decided to paint a giant elephant in the corner. No one had dared to ask why she had done it.

"Deb, is Lucas' room all set up?" Karen asked.

"Like I told you 3 times before, everything is fine. Relax Karen." Deb laughed.

Karen smiled apologetically. "Sorry Deb, I'm just a little nervous."

"there is no need to be" Deb said as she placed a comforting hand on Karen's shoulder. "Lucas is coming home and is getting better. He's going to be fine."

Karen smiled as she looked around at her son's friends. "I know" she muttered.

* * *

Lucas looked out the window as he watched tree hill whizz by. he was uncomfortably aware about his last time in a car and began to get a little nervous.

"Hey Nate? Could you, erm, slow down a bit please?" Lucas asked.

Nathan looked at his brother in the rear view mirror and saw the uneasiness on his face.

"Sure Luke" he replied as he took his foot off the gas a little. He cursed himself in his head.

_nice one Nathan, scare him with your stupid driving_

Peyton squeezed his hand and whispered in his ear.

"It's ok Luke, you're ok"

Lucas nodded and whispered back.

"I'm sorry, I'm just being stupid"

"No, baby, you're not, your bound to feel a little nervous, especially from your experience." She soothed.

Lucas nodded and gave a tight smile. Once again, he closed his eyes and laid his head back. He tried to ignore the fact that he was in a car and focused on how good it was to be out of hospital. The motion of the car lulled him into a light sleep.

Peyton sighed as she swept a hang through Lucas' hair. Haley turned in the front seat to face her.

"He ok?" she whispered.

Peyton gave a slight smile as she nodded. "Yeah. He's just really tired."

Haley watched as Peyton gazed at her best friend.

"You know Peyton, if you want; you're welcome to stay at ours with Luke." Haley said knowingly.

Peyton turned her stare to Haley.

"Really? I mean I don't want to impose" she answered casually, though she desperately wanted to stay with him.

"Of course. You are always welcome at ours. Plus, I know Lucas will feel more at ease with you around."

Peyton smiled gratefully. "Thank you Haley"

Haley grinned at her as she turned back round and Peyton resumed her position of watching Lucas as he slept.

* * *

After 20 minutes, Nathan pulled the range rover into the driveway.

"Home sweet home!" he yelled happily. The noise caused Lucas to wake up.

"uh?" he mumbled sleepily

Nathan turned to face his brother.

"Come on sleeping beauty! We're home!"

Lucas looked at Nathan suspiciously. "Why the hell are you so happy all of a sudden?" he groaned, annoyed that he had been woken from blissful sleep.

"Because you are finally home" Nathan said, although that was only partially the truth. He was also excited about the party that he knew was waiting just behind his front door.

He hurried out of the car and grabbed the wheelchair out of the boot and brought it around to Lucas' side of the car. He opened the door and was met with his brother's grumpy face.

"Oh come on Luke, lighten up. You only have to use this chair until you get better!"

Lucas muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "cheery bastard" but Nathan either didn't hear or chose to ignore it.

Once again, skills and Nathan helped Lucas to get comfortable in the wheelchair before Nathan resumed pushing him up to the front door. Peyton stayed with them as Haley and Skills went ahead inside.

Peyton and Nathan shared a secretive smile as the made their way through the front door and into the lounge.

"Welcome home Lucas" Peyton grinned as Lucas looked around the room in awe. All the gang were simply staring at him with grins plastered on their faces. They had agreed not to jump out at him and give the traditional yell of surprise as they feared it may shock him and cause another heart attack.

Lucas sat speechless as he looked around the room at his family and friends. He could stop the smile from spreading across his face. Before he could comment on anything, Jamie ran towards him.

"Uncle Lucas!"

He made to jump onto his lap but was snatched out of the air by his father before he could reach his destination.

"Whoa buddy! Careful, remember what we said about Uncle Lucas and how you have to be gentle?"

Jamie nodded and gave an apologetic smile.

Lucas held his arms out to his nephew and Nathan gently set him on his lap.

"Hey Uncle Lucas! It so cool that you are back home, and we are gonna have lots of fun! We can watch TV all day and play on the Wii all the time" Jamie chattered excitedly. He wasn't bothered in the slightest with the fact that his uncle was in a wheelchair and had a giant pin stuck in his leg, not to mention all the cuts and bruises that marked his body. For this, Lucas was grateful.

"Sounds like great fun J-Luke. We're going to have a blast! And thanks for the poster little buddy."

Jamie beamed up at him. "I told mommy that it would help you 'member and it did" he stated proudly.

"It did Jamie, it was great"

"Ok Jimmy jam, let's give Uncle Lucas space to breathe" Haley said as she lifted her son off his lap.

"I'm really glad you're ok uncle Lucas." Jamie said sincerely.

Lucas smiled. "Me too little man."

The next 20 minutes was spent greeting everyone. Junk and Fergie let Lucas know that just because he was in a wheelchair, it didn't mean that they would go easy on him when he was back on his feet and ready to play basketball again. Lucas merely rolled his eyes at his two childhood friends and laughed. He also had a chat with his sister, who was very concerned to know whether he liked the poster. He told her that he, of course, did. However, when he was about to mention the elephant, he was quickly shushed by his friends before he could awaken the wrath of Lily.

* * *

Karen sat across the room watching her son. She was glad to see him smile again. There had been a point where she thought she would never see it again.

"he sure is a tough kid" Andy stated as he sat next to her.

Karen smiled "he gets his strength from Keith"

Andy nodded. "he gets it from his mom too. He's going to be fine Karen. He's home now, he's safe."

"I know. But he still has a lot to go through. Andy, what if the physio doesn't work?"

"Then I will get the best physiotherapist money can buy, even if I have to fly him to another country. He will get the best there is Karen, I promise you that" Andy said with conviction.

Karen smiled at him. "You're pretty great, you know that?"

Andy sighed dramatically "it's a hard burden for me to bare. You're not so bad yourself you know" He chuckled.

* * *

Lucas bit back a yawn as he listened to the conversation going on around him. The hand grasping his gave a squeeze as the owner of it whispered in his ear.

"You ok?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah. I'm just tired, too much excitement for an old guy like me" Lucas smirked.

By this point Karen, who had been watching Lucas grow more tired from across the room, came to his side.

"I think it's time for you to get some rest honey" his mother spoke gently.

Lucas was too tired to argue and gave a simple nod. Before he knew what was happening, Nathan had wheeled him into his room and helped him into bed. Lucas was glad that he didn't have to mess about changing as before he had left the hospital, they had thought ahead and he simply wore a comfortable t-shirt and pair of shorts. He wouldn't be wearing trousers for while, at least not until the pin had been removed.

As he lay back against the soft sheets, that Haley had insisted he have, he sighed tiredly as his eyes slid shut. The others made their way out of the room to allow him some peace. Peyton remained though. She made her way back to his side and watched him.

"Peyton" Lucas said without opening his eyes.

Peyton jumped at the noise as she thought Lucas was already asleep.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Can you stay with me, please?" Lucas asked.

She smiled warmly at his words.

As she crawled into the bed beside him, she whispered

"There is no way else I would rather be."

**Ok guys, there we have it! I know I didn't go into too much detail with the party, but I didn't want to drag it on and bore you with all the details. Hope you enjoyed it and I will try to update soon! Please review! Have a very Merry Christmas! **


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey guys! Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and a happy new year! Forgive me for leaving it two weeks to update but we all know how busy the Christmas period is! I have also spent lots of time studying for a major test, which was so kindly give to me on my first day back at university after the holidays! Anyway, thanks again for all the great reviews since the last chapter, I'm so happy to see comments of people who have been following the story from the beginning. Here is chapter 23!**

* * *

When Lucas felt himself rousing from slumber, he noticed that something was missing. As he was still in the waking up stage, it took a moment for him to notice what it was. He then realised that he was alone, unlike how he was when he fell asleep. He cracked open his eyes as they adjusted to the dull light streaming in from the hall. He made move to sit up but was instantly stopped by the protest of his injuries. He moved his head as he looked around the room to find Peyton only to see, to his disappointment, that she was not there. He rested his head back against the pillows as he observed the room. As much as he loved and appreciated staying with Nathan and Haley, he missed his home. He knew that it was best all around if he stayed here, as there was more space and plenty of people to help him, but being the independent person that he was, Lucas knew that it would take some adjusting to.

He looked out the window and upon seeing the darkness outside he guessed that it was well into the night. One look at the bedside clock proved him right and by the quietness of the house he knew that the guests from earlier had long since gone home.

As he couldn't get out of bed without causing help, and because he didn't want to disturb the others, he simply lay in the quite for a while, enjoying the fact that he was finally out of hospital.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he heard the door slowly open. He opened his eyes to see who it was, hoping that it was Peyton. He was only a little disappointed to see Nathan there.

"Oh, sorry man, did I wake you?" his brother said sympathetically.

"Nah, I was just relaxing" Lucas commented.

"Well it's not like you can do much else" joked Nathan.

Lucas just rolled his eyes.

"How ya feeling? I just came in to check on you" Nathan stated as he perched on the bed.

"Better now I'm out of that hospital. Where's Peyton?" Lucas asked quickly.

Nathan smiled at his brothers rushed question before he answered. "She's just in the kitchen with Haley preparing you a nice buffet of medication. You got painkillers, heart tablets and lots more great things that will dope you up good and proper"

"Great." Came Lucas' sarcastic reply "how much medication can one guy take?"

"Well, you have got a lot of stuff wrong with you at the moment, so to answer your question, a lot. Although I was upset that there isn't one to control you hissy fits over the wheel chair"

Lucas opened his mouth to argue back Nathan held up a hand to stop him.

"I'm just messin Luke, I know how much it sucks to be in it but its there to help and its only temporary" Nathan soothed.

Lucas sighed "I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it"

Nathan laughed "you big baby"

Lucas cracked a smile as he joined in his brother's mirth.

After a moment, Nathans expression turned sombre as he observed his brother. He took a moment before speaking to him again.

"Hey Luke, I just........well......" Nathan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked up to meet Lucas' confused expression, who was try to understand what he was saying.

Nathan coughed lightly and began again, this time much more confidently and clearly.

"Lucas, I realise I haven't actually said this since you woke up, but, I'm so glad that your ok. I don't know what I would have done if you had, you know, died."

Lucas was taken aback for a moment. He was touched and surprised at his brother's words, knowing that he didn't confess things like this often as Nathan wasn't so open about his feelings.

"When the police came and told us about your accident, I felt like I couldn't breathe and all I could think about was getting to the hospital as quick as possible to make sure you were ok. I even asked Keith to lend a hand and help you out."

Lucas was even more shocked upon hearing this. He didn't interrupt as he felt that Nathan hadn't quite finished and he knew how much his brother hated to be interrupted.

"I know that this sounds mushy and that's usually your territory, but I just wanted to say how proud I am to call you my bother and that I love you man."

Nathan looked down slightly embarrassed and waited for Lucas' response.

"Nathan, that means a lot to hear you say that, I knew how bad I would have felt had that been me hearing that you had been the one in an accident. So thanks, and thanks for being there for me. And I love you too little brother."

Lucas smiled him as they both began to laugh at their own sappiness and shared a quick (what Nathan insisted was a) guy hug.

"Thank god the girls aren't here otherwise they would tease us forever" laughed Nathan.

"God forbid that should happen" Lucas said as the two brothers fell into a typical conversation of basketball.

* * *

Little did they know that their conversation had been overheard, not only by Haley and Peyton, but Brooke as well, who had joined the others after finishing the last of the tidying up from the party. They had been on the way to deliver Lucas' medicine when they heard the quiet conversation and couldn't resist eavesdropping. They all shared smiles and whispered "awws" as they heard Nathan's speech and Lucas' reply.

"Who knew that the Scott brothers were such big softies" Brooke whispered.

"Well we all knew Lucas was" joked Peyton.

The three women shared smiles and rolls of their eyes when they heard Nathan say "this is just a guy hug dude"

"It's hard to believe that they hated each other's guts once" Brooke mused

"Well in fairness that was Dan's fault for turning them against each other" muttered Haley

"Speaking of he-who-must-not-be-named, have you seen him since his last visit to the hospital?" asked Brooke.

Her reply was two head shakes.

"No, thank god" came Peyton's reply.

"Well let's give Luke his meds. Oh and don't let on that we heard them otherwise it will ruin their egos" smiled Haley as Peyton and Brooke nodded in agreement.

* * *

They made their way to the door, making light conversation as they did to alert the boys of their approach.

"Hey sleepy head. How you feeling?" Peyton asked as she made her way over to Lucas with a tray of pills and a light snack.

"Why, I'm great sawyer, thanks for asking" replied Nathan which earned him a smack off both Peyton and his wife. Not wanting to be left out, Brooke added one too.

"Whoa! Jeeze, you make one small joke and get beaten to death!"

"Jack ass" mumbled Peyton as she placed the tray on the side and turned to Lucas questioningly.

"I'm ok" came Lucas' usual response

"Well prepare to feel even better. I'm here to drug you." She said with a serious expression.

Lucas gave a light chuckle. As Haley made way toward him.

"Well Luke, we're all going to hit the hay as its really late ok? There are extra blankets in the cupboard in case you get cold, water on the night stand as well as you meds should you need any more and some books in the drawer for you if you get bored and can't sleep, though I doubt that will happen as the meds are really strong" She rambled hurriedly.

Lucas gave a small smile at his best friends worrying.

"I'll be fine hales. Get some rest"

"You too mister" she said as she gave him a fleeting hug. "Your mom said to tell you goodnight, she came in earlier but you were asleep so she said she will be here first thing tomorrow" Lucas nodded in reply.

The others made their way out the room with wishes of a goodnight. As they neared the door they were momentarily stopped by Lucas voice.

"Hey guys? I just want to thank you for the welcome home party. Even though I slept through most of it, it was nice seeing everyone." He said with a sincere smile.

* * *

As they closed the door to Lucas' room, Haley let out a sigh.

"You ok?" Nathan asked as he wrapped an arm around her.

She gave a smile to her husband. "Yeah. I just hope he is alright."

Nathan let out a small laugh. "Hales, Peyton is with him. He is going to be fine. He's a big boy, not a baby. Next you will be setting up Jamie's old baby monitor in the room to keep an eye on him."

Haley looked thoughtful for a second "that's actually a real good idea, we should totally do that!" she said seriously.

Both Nathan and Brooke let out a snort of laughter.

"Relax tutor mom. Broody has Peyton with him. He is definitely ok" Brooke smiled, trying to soothe her friend's uneasiness. She understood why she was being so over protective. After all, Lucas was a very treasured person by the entire group and it was understandable she would act this way after nearly losing him.

Brooke looked at her watch. "Well, thanks for the party Naley, but I gotta be heading home. It's late."

"Brooke, you may as well stay the night. It's far too late to be out driving. Plus we all know that you will be back here in a couple of hours anyway." Nathan said with a supportive nod thrown in form Haley.

"Ok you twisted my arm. But I will need to raid your closet Haley to get some pyjamas. And they better be COB" Brooke joked as the three made their way upstairs.

* * *

Peyton leaned against the headboard, propped up on pillow as she ran her hand through Lucas' hair, quietly watching him. After taking the required medication, Lucas had fallen asleep, his head rested against Peyton's hip. She knew that the meds would make him sleep; Doctor Morgan had told her so. She was glad that he was finally getting the rest he needed. She noticed that he was sleeping much more soundly now that he was out of hospital.

She stayed there listening to the sound of his breathing. It was deep and calm. She sighed softly as she looked down at him and softly pressed a kiss to his forehead. She was unbelievably happy that he was finally home and even more so that they were back together. She knew that they still had a long way to go what with Lucas' recovery; she wasn't a fool, but just being out of the hospital made him look a hundred times better.

"I'm so happy that you're ok" she whispered into the quietness.

"I know that it will take time for you to get better and I promise that I will be with you every step of the way, now and forever. I love you Lucas, so much." she said, her hand never stooping the movement it had been continually doing since they had gotten back together.

She was surprised as she heard a quiet "I love you too" whisper back from the man at her side as she though he was asleep.

Looking down, she met his tired blue eyes and smiled.

"I thought you were asleep" she said softly.

"Almost" came his simple, sleepy reply.

"You big faker" Peyton joked, once again running her hand through his hair.

Lucas closed his eyes and gave a small smile.

"Why are you still awake?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"I was just making sure that you got to sleep ok" came her reply.

"I would be able to get to sleep a lot better if I knew you were too" he said, still not opening his eyes.

The hand that had been stroking his hair stopped and he felt the covers move as she shuffled down the bed, careful not to knock him. After a moment, the hand was once again back in his hair. Not that he minded. It had a very efficient calming effect upon him and he felt the pull of sleep start to return.

This time Peyton knew for certain that he had fallen asleep, his breathing once again slowing down to a relaxed rate. Knowing that Lucas was asleep, she too let herself succumb to slumber, at peace with the notion that the man she loved was alive and safe in her arms.

* * *

**Hope that didn't disappoint! And can I just say that last night's episode of OTH was WOW! I won't give anything away for those who haven't yet seen it, but I will just say that if you're a Leyton fan (which I presume you are as you are reading this story) you will adore it!**

**Thanks for reading and please review! Hope you are all having a good start to 2009!!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you to all the followers who have been with the story since the beginning! I hope that you are enjoying reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Been a busy week, my brother's wife finally had her baby (she was 3 weeks past her due date!) I now have a new little nephew by the name of Finley Shane and obviously I have been fussing over him so much that I haven't had chance to update until now! So without further ado, here is chapter 24!**

* * *

"LILY!" Karen roe shouted to her daughter "it's time to go see your brother"

She was met with the noise of frantic movement from the room down the hall. She sighed heavily as she paced the kitchen.

"Karen, relax. Haley won't lock us out the house you know" Andy joked as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

She offered him a small smile. "I know Andy, but I really want to see him"

It had killed her to leave Lucas last night. It was her instinct as a mother to want to protect and look after him. Not that she doubted the capability of the others; on the contrary, she knew they would all do a fantastic job caring for Lucas. But she was his mother and the need to be with him was overwhelming.

Andy knew how desperate she was. It had taken ages to convince her to come home and even when they arrived and had all gone to bed she had just lay there waiting for morning to come. The moment the clock had shown 6:00am she had practically flown out of bed and started to get ready. Knowing that it was best not to argue with her, Andy had followed suit. It was now 7 and they were waiting for Lily to finish getting ready.

"He will probably still be asleep when we get there anyway"

Once again, the tired mother sighed. "You're probably right. But I still want to be there" she stated as Lily ran into the room.

"Ready Mommy" the lily girl spoke, slightly out of breath.

"Ok then Munchkin" Andy smiled as he picked her up "let's go see how Lucas is" as they made their way to the car.

* * *

The night hadn't been a very unpleasant one for Lucas. His leg had been causing him a severe amount of pain and it had kept him up for most of the night. Peyton had woke around 1 am to the sound of Lucas' heavy and strained breathing and had immediately given him some painkillers and gently scolded him for not waking her, causing her to roll her eyes when he replied " I didn't want to bother you."

They had taken the edge off, but the pain was still excruciating for him. She had spent the next few hours watching him come in and out of restless sleep. At around 3:30, Haley had crept into the room to see how he was and was concerned to see him in pain. As they couldn't give him any more painkillers, they had tried to take his mind off it by summoning a sleepy Nathan who rolled the spare TV into the room with a collection of DVDs. The four had then spent the rest of the night watching Lucas' favourites. It seemed to have helped calm Lucas down, but he hadn't gotten much rest.

"Well that wasn't too good" Nathan exclaimed as he turned on the coffee maker. He guessed it would be used well today.

"I just feel so helpless" Peyton muttered as she leaned against the counter "he's in all this pain and there is nothing I can do about it" she sighed.

"Peyton, just by being here you have helped Lucas more than anything" Haley soothed. "Anyway, he's finally asleep now so hopefully he can get some rest before Vi comes."

Nathan had forgotten about the friendly nurse stopping by. "What time is she coming?" he asked his wife.

"Around 9" was the reply. Looking at the clock on the kitchen wall Nathan saw they had just less than 2 hours till she arrived and hopefully Lucas could use that time to get some rest.

"Lucas is gonna love that" he grumbled as he poured 3 cups of coffee.

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Jamie, who sprinted into the kitchen wearing his pyjamas and red cape.

"Morning!" the little boy shouted. "is uncle Lucas awake? I promised him we could go on the play station today!" he yelled excitedly.

"Jamie, calm down sweetie. He is still asleep. He isn't feeling very well today" Haley told her son.

Jamie looked downcast upon hearing this "but I wanted to play with him."

Seeing his son's change in expression, Nathan grabbed him and threw him into the air, skilfully catching him on the way down. This caused Jamie to dissolve into giggles.

"Daddy!" he laughed as his father placed him back on the ground.

Nathan rubbed the top of his son's head affectionately "Uncle Lucas may feel better later and if not I can play on it with you" he promised making Jamie smile.

"oh, Momma" Jamie turned to face Haley "Aunt Brooke told me to tell you that she is having a shower and then going back to hers to change and will come back in a bit"

Haley nodded "ok buddy, thanks for letting me know"

"right, I'm just going to check on Luke" Peyton said as she grabbed her coffee, thanked Nathan and made her way out the kitchen.

* * *

Lucas already knew that this wasn't going to be a very pleasant day. His leg hurt like hell, he was tired and more than a little grumpy. To make matters worse, he remembered that Vi was coming today to tighten his pin. This annoyed him even more. However, upon seeing Peyton enter the room, it instantly made him feel a little better.

"Hey" she said softly as she made her way over to the bed.

Lucas grunted softly in response and followed with a quiet "Hey"

He tried to put on a happy face, but found it took a lot more effort than he was able to give. Instead he opted on closing his eyes and desperately trying to relax.

Peyton inwardly sighed as she saw Lucas struggle to be cheery. She didn't take offence to his actions. She couldn't even begin to imagine how tired and frustrated he was feeling. She paused for a moment before taking a seat next to him on the bed and began to do the one thing she knew would calm him down.

Lucas smiled a little when he felt her hands start to brush through his hair. Over the past few days, he had increasingly enjoyed this particular trait that Peyton had picked up and felt it instantly soothed him.

"I'm sorry" he whispered.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm not expecting you to be unbelievably, happy especially in the situation you're in. Just make sure to tell me if something is annoying you and I will try my best to help." She soothed.

He nodded weakly against her.

"Are you hungry?"

Lucas quickly shook his head. The thought of eating made him feel a little sick.

"Not right now" he answered.

Peyton nodded. "Ok. But you need to try and eat something at some point today, alright?"

Lucas sighed before he answered "I will try later" he promised as he tried to relax into sleep.

Knowing that he wasn't in the mood for conversation, Peyton happily sat there stroking his hair and having the occasional sip of her coffee.

* * *

Nathan helped his wife to get breakfast ready for everyone as he listened to his son happily chat away about all the cool stuff he had planned for his uncle. The majority of it involved playing play station and watching basketball as his parents had told him that Lucas was unable to move around much.

"......and we can watch finding nemo, and sharks tale. Oh. And I can bring Chester to come and see him." He chattered excitedly.

Nathan held back a laugh at the image of his brother stuck in his bed with a huge bunny sitting on his lap, unable to escape it. Not that Lucas was afraid of animals, but for some reason, the bunny made him uncomfortable. Nathan couldn't argue with him, he felt the same way too. For reasons unknown to him and his brother, the rabbit freaked them out. The fact that the rabbit was so large didn't aid matters either. Nathan and Haley had begun to monitor just how much Jamie fed Chester, as he was rapidly becoming overweight.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the front door opening and a body whipping past the kitchen.

Nathan was sure he heard the person shout hello, but they made no move to slow down. When he saw Andy and Lily enter the kitchen, he assumed the human blur was Karen. He let out a light chuckle.

"I'm guessing she missed Lucas" he said as he shook Andy's hand.

Andy laughed in response. "She was up at 6 this morning getting us ready. Hence the early arrival"

"Well you can't blame her, he is her son after all" Haley defended.

The two men shook their heads and simultaneously muttered "Moms"

* * *

Karen ran as fast as she could to her son's room, upon reaching the door, she stopped and took a moment to collect herself. She then knocked on the door and pushed it open.

She was met with the sight of Peyton sitting next to her son, stroking his hair. Lucas seemed to be asleep and Karen smiled at the peaceful scene in front of her.

Peyton, who had turned her attention to the door when she heard the knock, matched Karen's smile with one of her own.

"Hey" the elder of the two women said.

Peyton gave a similar reply as Karen made her way over to the bed. As she reached it, she sat down and brushed a hand through her son's hair. Peyton shifted a little and sat up, careful not to awake the sleeping man beside her.

"How is he?" Karen asked.

Peyton sighed. "He had a real rough night. His leg has been giving him a lot of pain. He didn't get any sleep last night. He finally drifted off about half an hour ago."

Karen's face took on a worried expression as she surveyed her son.

"Oh Lucas" she said mournfully. "did he have any painkillers?"

Peyton nodded. "yes. We gave him as much as he was allowed to have. Not that they did much." She grumbled.

The two women sat in silence for a moment as they stared at Lucas. A smile came to Peyton's face as she imagined what his expression would be if he woke up now and caught them staring.

After a moment, Karen broke the silence.

"Peyton, I know it isn't really my place, but I just wanted to let you know how happy I am that you are back with Lucas. He is never happier than when he is with you and I'm glad that you have brought the smile back to his face. I also want to thank you for being there for him at the hospital and now. It eases my worry a little" she smiled.

A faint blush crept to Peyton's cheeks as she absorbed Karen's kind words.

"Thank you Karen. It means a lot to hear you say that. And for the record, I will always be there for him."

Karen smiled. "I knew the two of you would end up back together one day. Lucas will probably kill me for telling you this, but after you broke up he was so miserable. He moped about, never went out, except for work and college. The only thing that brought even a whisper of a smile to his face was publishing his book. I hardly ever saw him smile apart from that. When we spoke on the phone his heart wasn't really in the conversation. Until he rang me the day you came back from LA and there was a spark in his voice again. As much as he tried to hide it, he has always loved you." She finished.

By now, Peyton had turned a deep shade of crimson.

"To be honest with you Karen, every day we were apart, I regretted what happened between the two of us. LA was great, but it wasn't home. I spent the last four years fooling myself, thinking that it was where I was supposed to be. I was miserable. My job wasn't going anywhere; I didn't have many friends outside of work. There were so many times I found myself dialling Lucas' number just to hear his voice. He actually answered once and I hung up straight away. I was afraid to talk to him."

Karen let out a soft laugh upon hearing this. "You too are as bad as each other. I never thought the day would come when I would meet someone as stubborn as my son, and then you came along" she said jokingly.

Peyton chuckled "we are a right pair aren't we?"

"That you are" agreed Karen.

She sighed as she looked at Lucas. "It's going to be a tough couple of months."

"We will get through it. Lucas is strong and he has a great family to help him" assured Peyton confidently.

Their discussion was interrupted as the door was pushed open. Nurse Vi strolled in as though she owned the place and was followed swiftly by Haley and Nathan.

"Hello you two, sorry to bust up your little chat, but tough guy here needs this pin seein too" she said, getting straight to business.

Haley, Peyton and Karen all looked at Lucas sadly.

"Do we have to wake him up? I feel so guilty not letting him sleep" said Haley.

"You may, but I don't" Nathan said as he moved to his brother's side.

"Lucas.......Luuuuccccasssss"he dragged out.

Lucas made no response what so ever. Nathan gently pushed his shoulder, but to no avail.

"Lucas! Quick! I broke your laptop" Nathan practically shouted.

That did the trick. Lucas' eyes shot open in panic and he spotted his brother who was laughing hard.

"Nathan! That was mean!" Haley reprimanded.

"Yeah....." Nathan gasped in between his laughter "But it was so worth it"

Lucas' face was murderous "Your gonna pay for that" he grumbled.

"easy now tough guy, you can sort him out later." Vi said, alerting Lucas to her presence.

Upon seeing her, a look of realisation came to his face.

"Oh crap" he muttered.

* * *

**Hope you weren't too bored! I felt the urge to write some Peyton/Karen interaction! Hope you liked it! Please leave a review, they brighten up my day!**


	25. Chapter 25

**I am on my knees grovelling to you for my appalling lack of updates! I have had so much to do these past few weeks that I barely have time to think! Thank you for sticking to the story though and just to let you know that there will only be one more chapter after this. I feel I have run this story long enough and don't want to ruin in by having it drag on and on. But I have already started to write a new one and the first chapter should be loaded in the next few days so please check it out. Also, on a completely unrelated topic, how great is it that Obama is now President! Awesome! Anyway, here is chapter 25! **

* * *

Ten days had passed since Lucas had come out the hospital and he was on the verge of re-admitting himself. Between Haley, Nathan, Peyton, Karen and Brooke, he never had a moment to himself. The main concerns were Haley and Karen who had gone into worry overdrive. Everything he did worried them. Earlier in the day he had sneezed and Haley had spent nearly 10 minutes checking to make sure he was ok. Lucas was becoming frustrated by it all. He refrained from saying anything because he didn't want to upset them or seem ungrateful. Although, he had confessed his feelings to Nathan, who was now helping to draw Haley away from time to time. Peyton wasn't so bad though. He liked the constant attention she gave him; there was no way he was going to complain about that.

He shifted a little in the chair as he watched a movie with Jamie and Lily. Out the corner of his eye he could see the wheelchair, which he threw a glare at.

_At least I'm finally out of that damned bed_ he reasoned to himself.

He sighed and relaxed deeper into the couch. The girls had been convinced to go out for the day, leaving Lucas in the care of his brother, which he was thoroughly enjoying as he wasn't been checked up on every five minutes.

He snuck a glance to his brother and smiled when he saw him deeply engrossed in the Disney movie they were currently watching. Nathan had put up much protest when the kids demanded to watch Bambi, insisting men like him didn't watch things like that. Lucas laughed mentally at his brother.

Yes, life was improving Lucas thought as he sat on the couch with his brother, his little sister and nephew in between them. His leg was also feeling much better. It still hurt from time to time, but it wasn't as intense as when he first woke up. His other injuries were also healing nicely. Most of his minor cuts and bruises had almost disappeared, making him look much better.

His family had been relieved to see the improvement in him too. He was much more relaxed and happy than when he had first come out of the hospital. And now that he was out of bed, albeit still in a wheelchair, he seemed much more satisfied at being able to move around. It had been a week of being stuck in the bed until Vi had deemed it ok for him to come out. That week was hard on everyone. Lucas tried to hide his annoyance, but became so frustrated that it was hard for him to do so. Everyone understood though. Lucas was a very active person, playing basketball, going for walks or runs, running errands. He was also very independent and found it hard to let others help him. He was usually the helper so it was strange for him to have the rolls reversed. Yes, knowing what Lucas was like allowed the others to understand that being stuck in the bed and being unable to do anything was absolute torture for him. They kept him occupied though, with visits from the gang, playstation (which Nathan had installed in his room), his laptop (although Lucas was still weak and quickly got tired from the simple action of typing) and his collection of books.

Lucas sighed; the last week had been one of the worst of his life. He was pulled out of his thoughts when the doorbell rang. He looked questioningly over to Nathan who stared blankly back at him.

"Are you waiting for me to answer it?" he asked.

Nathan looked torn at leaving the movie but resigned himself to the fact that he was the one who must open the door. Haley and Karen would have his head if he let the kids do it. He sighed and heaved himself off the couch causing Lucas to smirk at his melodramatics.

A few minutes later, Nathan came into the room closely followed by Whitey Durham.

"Coach!" Lucas stated out of habit, causing the old man to chuckle.

"I should be the one calling you that now" he smiled. "How are you Lucas" he asked as his eyes roamed over his injuries.

"Better" came Lucas' simple reply.

"Glad to hear it son" Whitey nodded "Now, come with me, were going for a little walk" he stated.

Lucas looked at whitey as though he had gone senile. "Err.....Whitey.....I can't exactly walk" he clarified slowly.

The elder coach rolled his eyes "I know that boy, which is why we're taking this"

Lucas' face quickly took on a scowl as Whitey pulled the wheelchair in front of him.

"No way" he said.

"Don't be stupid. I know how desperate you are to get out the house. This is your chance." Smirked Whitey. Lucas looked into the face of his brother and saw that he too had a grin.

* * *

20 minutes later saw Lucas being pushed along the street. It was a beautiful day and Lucas had to admit that this had actually been a good idea. He closed his eyes as he felt the sum warm his face and the soft breeze brush through his hair, a small smile escaped his lips.

"Funny how the simplest things are more enjoyable when you realise how close you were to never experiencing them again" Whitey's voice penetrated the quite air.

Lucas nodded a silent agreement.

"I'm sorry I haven't been to visit you before Lucas" Whitey apologized.

"Its ok, don't worry about it. How's the travelling going?"

Whitey snorted "to tell the truth, I missed everything here to damn much that I couldn't enjoy myself. Then I heard what had happened to you a few days ago and I decided to come home. Travellin aint no fun when you're alone"

"Maybe when I'm better I can come with you. I can see it now" Lucas held his hands out as though he was pushing something "The Ravens coaches travel the world!"

Whitey laughed heartily. "Sounds good to me." He paused a moment before he continued to speak. "So how are you really doing Luke? I heard that you had a bit of trouble with your memory."

Lucas closed his eyes as he recalled what it was like for his family and friends, and of course, himself.

"Yeah, but I'm better now"

"You sure about that? You still seem a little distant." Whitey observed.

Lucas sighed deeply and shook his head, how was it that Whitey could always see right through him?

"I guess I'm just a little..... Well, scared I guess" he admitted after a lengthy pause.

"And why is that" the aged man questioned as he steadily pushed Lucas along down the street.

"I'm scared that I won't be able to walk properly again, that I will disappoint everyone. I don't want to end up being a lesser person because of this accident" came his heartfelt admission.

Whitey's heart went out to the young man in front of him; Lucas wasn't one who liked to disappoint others.

_That's a trait he learnt from Keith _he thought fondly.

Whitey pulled to a slow stop and sat down on the bench that was planted on the sidewalk. He looked Lucas in the eye and saw the hesitation and fear in them. He took off the baseball cap that seemed to have taken residence upon his head for the last 6 years and rubbed a hand over his scalp.

"Lucas, I want you to listen to me very closely. You could never disappoint your family. You have already come through so much. By right you shouldn't even be here right now, but you came through it all. Not only did you survive a terrible accident, you gained the strength to get your memory back and to come back to your family. That's nothing short than outstanding. Trust me Lucas, knowing you like I do, you will do whatever you can to walk again and I have every confidence that you will. But if for some reason you can't, people won't think less of you. You have already made them so proud by coming this far. They will never think less of you for that."

Lucas was taken aback by his old coach's cordial words and it made a smile come to his face.

"I'm usually the one with long speeches" Lucas joked, causing Whitey to let out a deep laugh.

"Still don't believe me?" Whitey asked. "Well then let's take you to someone you can really talk to" He said as he once again began pushing him along, striking up a conversation about the ravens, to which Lucas enthusiastically joined in.

* * *

The girls trampled through the front door, utterly exhausted, and laden with far too many shopping bags. Peyton dropped her bags on the floor, most of which were for Lucas, and made her way through the house, passing the lounge. Seeing that he wasn't there she figured he must be in the bedroom and continued on without stopping.

She quietly pushed open the door in case he was asleep. She was shocked to find that he wasn't there. She stood in astonishment for a moment, knowing that she hadn't seen him in the lounge. She quickly left the room and did a quick sweep of the downstairs only to come up empty handed.

"NATHAN!" she yelled as she ran into the lounge.

By now she had attracted everyone's attention, including Nathans, who was looking at her with a guilty expression.

"Yeah?" he said quietly.

"Where the hell is Lucas?!"

Nathan visibly gulped when 4 sets of angry female eyes landed on him.

* * *

Lucas' appreciation for Whitey went up to a whole new level as he sat at Keith's grave. He turned to look at Whitey who gave him a small nod.

"I'm gonna go say hello to Camilla" he said as he walked to the other end of the cemetery.

"Hey Keith" Lucas spoke softly. His reply was a whisper of wind through the trees.

"I just want to say thanks. For you know, helping me make it. For saving me. You gave me my life back."

He stopped for a moment as he shuffled a little in the wheelchair.

"I miss you Keith. I wish you were here right now to give me a hand. I feel lost and scared. I don't know if I can ever make it back to who I used to be. I mean, look at me. I can't even walk properly, let alone take care of myself don't want to keep depending on everyone all the time, I can't live like that. What am I gonna do?"

It was then that part of the conversation they had shared in his dream echoed through his head in the words of his father.

_Just follow your heart Lucas, its lead you in the right direction before_

Upon hearing these words, a feeling of upmost calm washed over him. Along with the feeling that everything was going to be alright.

A smile spread across Lucas' face and he let out a small chuckle.

"Thanks Dad" he whispered back.

* * *

**Wasn't too sure about this chapter. Took many rewrite to try and make it sound better! Please review!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Well folks, this is it. The last chapter of a forgotten life. But fear not! I have just started a new story – **_**The Scott Family Camping Trip. **_**Please go and check it out! I want to say one huge thanks to all those who have ever reviewed and have been with the story from the start! I hope the ending meets your expectations! I dedicate this chapter to you! Enjoy!**

_18 months later _

Haley smiled softly as she looked around the garden. Everyone she loved was here. The scene before her was reminiscent of the last barbeque she had hosted. Only this time, there were a few more faces. In particular, Lucas'. He was currently at the barbeque with his brother directing him on how best to cook the steaks and been yelled at by Nathan for "showing off his inherited cooking skills."Lucas let out a loud chuckle at his brother. It was good to see him laughing again Haley thought to herself.

The last 18 months had been tough on everyone. There had been bad times and good times. Haley was pleased that the good far outweighed the bad. There had been fun times, trips, catching up with family that had moved back and many accomplishments. There were three key events that had topped them all though.

Haley watched as Lucas steadily walked over to the table. There was a slight limp in his step, something that he unfortunately would always have as a reminder of his accident, but this didn't faze him. Lucas, as well as the others had been overjoyed that he could walk again. That was the first key event that had highlighted the last year and a half.

The second was shown by the rings that were placed on both Lucas' and Peyton's left hands. Shortly after he had begun to walk again, Lucas had got down on one knee and popped the question on Christmas Day in front of them all. Peyton had screamed yes even before Lucas had a chance to finish his romantic speech and practically threw herself onto him. They had married a few months later.

Haley couldn't help but smile as she watched her best friend sit down next to wife, placing an arm across the back of her chair. The happiness that radiated off the couple was infectious and she couldn't think of two people who deserved it more.

The third thing that had topped the list was nestled snugly in Peyton's arms. A little baby with a tuft of bright blonde hair was the main reason for the couple's happiness. He lay there in his mother's arms without a care in the world as his father softly stoked his head. The little baby was just two weeks old and in that fortnight he had brought Lucas and Peyton more pleasure than they ever could have imagined. The whole family had been ecstatic at the news of Peyton's pregnancy and they had once again spent many hours clock watching in the hospital. Only this time, it was for a much better reason.

Moving away from Lucas and Peyton, Haley continued her observation.

Jamie and Lily were currently having a great time splashing about in the pool under the ever watchful gaze of Karen and Deb, who were seated the side of the pool.

Andy, Karen and Lily had moved back to Tree Hill after their world trip and had settled in nicely. Lily was in the same classes as Jamie, Karen had opened a restaurant and Andy had a teaching job with the local university. Everyone was over the moon that they had decided to come back, especially Lily who was given a large number of clothes from Brooke, much to her delight.

"Foods ready!"

Hearing her husband's voice pulled Haley from her trance as she made her way to the table and sat down next to Brooke, who was currently holding what she nicknamed "Baby Leyton"

"And how is my favourite nephew?" Haley cooed as she stroked the baby's soft tuft of hair.

"He's ready for his nap" Lucas said as he made he was over and took the baby from a very reluctant Brooke.

Placing a kiss to the baby's forehead, he adjusted him in his arms and made his way over to the travel cot that had been set up just inside the house and placed the little boy in it. After arming himself with the baby monitor, he returned steadily back to the table and resumed his place next to his wife, placing a kiss on her lips as he did so. Peyton smiled lovingly at him before joining in the conversation at the table.

"Everything ok Hales?" Nathan asked.

Haley smiled and looked around at her family before answering.

"Everything's perfect" she replied.

**There you have it! I know it was probably a predictable mushy ending, but I thought that they all deserved it after all the crap I put them through! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please leave one last review and let me know what you thought of the ending! **


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